Category: 3. Business

Four teams of analysts at the firm awarded $500,000 in charitable grants after pitching Goldman Sachs executives including Chairman and CEO David Solomon

LONDON, UK, October 8, 2025 – Goldman Sachs today held its 10^th-annual Analyst Impact Fund, where the firm’s leadership awarded a team of analysts from the New York and San Francisco offices a $250,000 grant in support of Jacaranda Health. The Analyst Impact Fund is the firm’s global competition where teams of analysts pitch senior leaders, including Chairman and CEO David Solomon, in a bid to win funding for the non-profit of their choice. Over the past decade, more than 6,800 analysts from nearly 70 offices have participated in the competition, directing over $5.5+ million in grants to 168 nonprofits globally.

The Analyst Impact Fund builds upon Goldman Sachs’ rich history of innovative ideas from extraordinary people and commitment to investing in the next generation of talent and our communities. This year, roughly 1,000 analysts participated in the initiative and over $500,000 in grants were provided to the top 25 teams representing nonprofit organizations from across the globe.

“Two of Goldman Sachs’ most powerful resources are our capital and our people. The Analyst Impact Fund brings together the best of both and highlights our commitment to excellence, teamwork, innovation and philanthropy,” said David Solomon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs. “Every year, I look forward to hearing pitches directly from our analysts on how they would use the firm’s capital to make a tangible impact in our communities.”

The finals brought four teams to the firm’s London office, with representatives based in New York, San Francisco, Dallas, London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney all vying for the $250,000 winning prize. The three runners-up were also awarded a share of $225,000 in grants. Those who attended and tuned in to the event also had a chance to vote for their “Fan Favorite,” awarding an additional $25,000.

“A decade ago, a powerful vision took hold: to empower Goldman Sachs’ junior talent to lead and deliver meaningful change through our annual Analyst Impact Fund,” said Asahi Pompey, President of Goldman Sachs Gives. “Since then, over 7,000 analysts have gone head-to-head to direct over $5.5 million to nearly 170 nonprofits around the world – pitching their ideas with the same precision, purpose, and passion they deliver to our clients. The Analyst Impact Fund is more than just a competition; it is Goldman Sachs’ culture in action.”

In addition to David Solomon and Asahi Pompey, the finalists presented to a judging panel of 42 senior Goldman Sachs leaders including:

• Rishi Sunak, Senior Advisor at Goldman Sachs
• Anthony Gutman, co-chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs International and global co-head of Investment Banking
• Kunal Shah, co-chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs International and global co-head of FICC
• Alison Mass, chairman of Investment Banking and head of the Office of Alumni Engagement
• Kevin Sneader, president of Asia Pacific Ex-Japan
• Oonagh Bradley, head of EMEA Compliance and global head of CF&O Compliance and Communications Compliance

Teams were judged across a number of criteria, including their nonprofit’s leadership, reach and potential for impact, the uniqueness of the proposed project or work of the nonprofit, the team’s analysis of the project goals, and the scalability of the organization’s work, among other considerations. The New York and San Francisco-based team representing Jacaranda Health was identified as the winner by judges. Jacaranda Health is committed to improving maternal and newborn health outcomes by embedding scalable and data driven solutions into public health systems, particularly in resource limited settings across Sub-Saharan Africa. The grant will be used to scale prompts and expand access to new countries.

All of the finalists focused on charities that were leveraging technology to drive change and impact. The final results were:

• First place – Team Jacaranda Health won $250,000
  
  Led by: Julian Daszkal, Ariana Linara, Nia Mosby, Francesca Yao
• Second place – Team Lifelites won $100,000 and an additional $25,000 for the “Fan Favorite” vote
  
  Led by: Fared Hassani, Georgina Knapman, Jane Neave, Ayo Odunaiya, Malika Zohidova
• Third place – Team Conservation X Labs won $75,000
  
  Led by: Charlie Hao, Elle Sun, Angel Wong, Kai Ting Yeo, Alessandra Dimech
• Fourth place – Team Let’s Get Ready won $50,000
  
  Led by: Naysa Alex, David Asham, Valerie Baessa, Natalia Baez, Leslie Jimenez

About Goldman Sachs

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global financial institution that delivers a broad range of financial services to a large and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world.

China-based companies are responsible for 20% of drugs in development globally, reflecting the powerhouse role the country has embraced in the pharmaceutical industry.

In a recent report by GlobalData, analysis demonstrates how regulatory and policy reforms in China have rapidly advanced its drug development landscape. The country accounts for nearly double the percentage of drugs being developed in the 5EU (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK), responsible for 11%. The US still leads the way, however, holding a 40% share.

The Chinese government has been busy over the last decade implementing regulatory initiatives in a bid to increase competitiveness on the global stage. This includes China’s “Opinions on Deepening the Reform of the Review and Approval Processes to Encourage Innovation of Drugs and Medical Devices,” a policy introduced in 2015 designed to accelerate growth in the pharmaceutical and medtech sectors. A further focus on modernising clinical trials has meant the country’s aim of becoming a dominant region for drug pipelines is being realised.

Gaffar Aga, strategic intelligence analyst at GlobalData, says: “This represents years of regulatory initiatives demonstrated by China, which enabled it to continue to advance into a key source of credible innovation within the global pharmaceutical landscape.”

The emergence of strong early-stage drug candidates in China has gone hand-in-hand with a steep uptick in licensing deals between the country’s biotechs and Western big pharma companies. One of the biggest transactions this year was AstraZeneca’s $5.2bn deal with CSPC Pharmaceuticals to research chronic disease drug candidates.

Some of these have followed an increasingly popular deal structure called NewCo. Under this model, instead of a direct agreement between an innovator and a big pharma buyer, rights are assigned to a new company or ‘NewCo’ in which companies and investors hold equity.

Licensing deals between US and Chinese biopharma companies hit record highs last year, a 280% increase from 2020, according to analysis by GlobalData.

Across big pharma, transactions rose 66% from $16.6bn in 2023 to $41.5bn in 2024, demonstrating that China is still the go-to place to discover pipeline candidates.

George El-Helou, strategic intelligence analyst at GlobalData, comments: “China continues to transition from ‘me-too’ to a global innovator, redefining the global drug development landscape. Other markets must continue to monitor China’s pipeline assets to maintain global market share.”

“China accounts for one-fifth of global drugs in development” was originally created and published by Pharmaceutical Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.

Staff at the defence firm Leonardo who are members of the Unite union have voted “overwhelmingly” in favour of strike action across its main UK sites, in a dispute over pay.

The Italian-owned company, which has the UK’s only helicopter factory in Yeovil, Somerset, had offered a two-year deal of 3.2%, describing it as fair with the potential through variable pay packages to increase to about 9.2%.

But Unite says the offer is actually a real-terms pay cut in light of inflation and the on going economic crisis. The union’s regional officer, Carrie Binnie, said: “This strike is entirely the making of Leonardo. It can fix it with the stroke of a pen.”

The BBC has approached Leonardo for a response.

The ballot saw all sites support strike action but, in an unusual move, Unite has not immediately announced a date for a walkout but has instead asked for a return to negotiations.

However, Unite says the walkout will happen this autumn if an improved offer is not made.

Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “Our members are highly skilled and work on critical defence and aerospace systems yet are being short-changed by a company making billions.

“Leonardo needs to do the right thing, return to the negotiating table and make an improved offer our members can accept.

“Otherwise, they will see their workers on the picket line and their factories shutdown.”

Leonardo has nine main sites across the UK in Edinburgh, Newcastle, Lincoln, Luton, London, Basildon, Southampton, Bristol and Yeovil.

It is not the only firm in the aerospace sector to face a staff walkout.

Last month, Airbus averted strike action by coming up with a new pay deal including enhancements to Unite members’ pensions.

While Colins Aerospace has agreed a 10% pay increase over 28 months, again avoiding a walkout.

The company, which began operating in Mexico in 2006, said the investment will fund a new Mexico City office and a Global Delivery Center to support customers across the Americas.

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“This $1 billion investment is a commitment to Mexico as a key market for AI-powered growth,” CEO Marc Benioff said.

Mexico is rapidly emerging as a tech services hub, drawing investments from technology companies, particularly in the AI domain due to the country’s proximity to the U.S. and growing talent base.

Salesforce said Mexico is a growth market for the company, with a customer base including organizations such as Xcaret, Grupo Bafar and FEMSA.

“This investment will not only create jobs and build AI skills within Mexico but will also position our country as a key consultancy hub for markets across Latin America on AI agents and more,” Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said.

Salesforce has rolled out AI across its cloud services at a rapid pace, culminating in the 2024 commercial launch of Agentforce — its AI agent platform designed to automate tasks, streamline operations and help lift margins.

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Organisations across Europe are navigating a pivotal moment. The accelerating pace of change, driven by political shifts, economic uncertainty, social transformation, rapid technological advances, and intensifying environmental pressures (PESTLE), is demanding bold and resilient leadership. The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD),¹ alongside sister directives such as the EU’s Pay Transparency Directive² and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD),³ adds to this urgency by setting new benchmarks for how companies account for their social and environmental impacts.

The CSRD calls for greater transparency around how businesses are measuring and addressing material sustainability risks and impacts, including those related to diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and human rights across the value chain. Complying with CSRD requires more than meeting reporting obligations; it demands a deeper understanding of how sustainability and inclusion intersect with business performance and long-term risk.⁴ But many organisations struggle to build this understanding and embed CSRD’s principles into strategies and practices.

At the same time, European organisations are keeping a close eye on developments across the Atlantic, where evolving regulatory frameworks — whether directly applicable or indirectly influential — are creating ripple effects that further complicate the compliance landscape. For global organisations, this transatlantic dynamic adds another layer of complexity, reinforcing the need for strategic clarity and adaptive leadership.

If you are a leader responsible for CSRD, this tool provides a structured way for you to bring together key stakeholders — across HR, DEI, legal, finance, and sustainability — to align priorities and co-develop strategic responses. It supports organisational efforts to address compliance requirements and go further, enabling scenario-based planning that is inclusive, forward-looking, and grounded in cross-functional collaboration.

This tool will enable you to:

• Navigate the “S” in ESG through structured scenario planning that aligns with CSRD requirements.
• Identify and prioritise material social risks and opportunities across the value chain.
• Stress-test organisational readiness through three future-facing scenarios:
  • Mandatory CSRD disclosures expose existing diversity, equity, and inclusion gaps.
  • AI bias in ESG tools skews CSRD disclosures.
  • Divergence in regulations and budgetary commitment to inclusion across markets complicates CSRD compliance.

How to cite: Smith, E. & Penda, V. (2025). Preparing your organisation for CSRD through strategic scenario planning. Catalyst.

China’s biopharmaceutical innovation is experiencing an unprecedented period of growth. Thanks to sustained policy support, capital investment, and expanding research capabilities, the country is rapidly increasing its reputation as a global hub of innovation. According to the WHO, in 2024 China ranked second in the world for number of registered clinical trials, and over the past decade, its new pharmaceutical and medical technology patents have nearly quadrupled.

Against this backdrop, the 28th Annual Meeting of the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) was held this month in Jinan, Shandong Province. As one of the most influential academic platforms in the field, CSCO has become a key venue for showcasing China’s oncology research to the world, and this year’s meeting shined a spotlight on the latest advances in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment across both research and clinical practice.

Partnering with leading experts in oncology, molecular pathology, and drug development, Illumina hosted a special session at the conference that facilitated in-depth exchanges on biomarker applications in solid tumors, cancer drug innovation, and precision medicine in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area.

Advances in next-generation sequencing and multiomics

Cancer therapy is undergoing a profound transformation, as subtypes are increasingly defined on a molecular basis rather than on organs or histology. With advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS), researchers can now integrate genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and other layers of biological information to achieve a comprehensive view of tumors. Large-scale genomics and multiomics projects are also enriching our understanding of cancer initiation and progression, opening new possibilities for precise tumor classification and translational research.

Professor Zhang Xuchao of Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital noted that “NGS and multiomics, as core tools in the life sciences, are enabling us to more precisely identify disease drivers and transition from single-target to multi-biomarker-driven approaches. By analyzing diseases at the molecular level, we can trace their evolutionary pathways, identify potential therapeutic targets, and accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into clinical applications.”

From the frontiers of research to clinical practice

As clinical practice increasingly adopts NGS, improving the accessibility and efficiency of precision oncology remains a top priority for clinicians. Comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) is a core tool for detecting cancer biomarkers and enabling a thorough analysis of genomic alterations in tumors. It helps identify variants linked to disease progression and drug sensitivity, significantly improving the accuracy of targeted therapy matching.

“China urgently needs breast cancer clinical research that is more tailored to local populations,” said Professor Cao Wenming of Zhejiang Cancer Hospital. “Systematic and highly sensitive genomics testing can guide clinical practice, significantly improve patient outcomes, and open up new therapeutic pathways.”

Professor Song Wei, director of Clinical Genomics and Molecular Pathology at UC San Diego Health, shared, “I’m deeply focused on advancing in-house genomics testing to help pathologists in classifying tumors more rapidly. CGP assays provide streamlined end-to-end workflow and integrated analytics, delivering rapid, high-quality results that meet the dual demands of speed and accuracy for in-house testing. By building local projects and databases, we are also advancing real-world research, using data to enhance both accessibility and clinical value of precision medicine.”

As NGS and multiomics technologies generate large-scale datasets, Illumina is empowering deeper analyses through bioinformatics software and AI. Recently, the UK Biobank identified 1.5 billion variants from nearly 500,000 whole genomes with Illumina software. The dataset was published in Nature and is now openly accessible to pharmaceutical partners worldwide.

Synergy between research and medicine

In China, multiomics, AI, and other advanced tools are increasingly embedded across the cancer care continuum. During a live discussion at the CSCO meeting, Professor Gao Chenyan, leading scientist at Changping Laboratory, emphasized that clinical research is a key driver of innovative drug development and the optimization of treatment pathways. Professor Ma Jun, director of the Harbin Institute of Hematology and Oncology (HIHO), elaborated: “Hematologic tumors are highly heterogeneous. Cutting-edge technologies such as NGS have greatly enhanced our ability to monitor tumor heterogeneity. NGS-based ctDNA assays offer high specificity and sensitivity, making them reliable tools for detecting minimal residual disease in B-cell lymphoma and for assessing treatment response. Driving innovation in cancer diagnosis and treatment requires close collaboration across research, clinical practice, and industry—all for the benefit of patients.”

A “pilot-first” model for innovation

The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) has become an important bridge for introducing innovative diagnostic and therapeutic solutions into mainland China, thanks to a Hong Kong Department of Health measure announced in November 2020. By June 2025, the measure had covered 45 designated hospitals, introduced 51 drugs and 63 devices, and benefited tens of thousands of patients in the GBA.

Kang Wei, former managing director of the R&D-Based Pharmaceutical Association Committee, noted that “China has become an important source of drug innovation, with growing impact in international clinical trials. GBA’s biopharmaceutical industry is uniquely positioned to leverage the measure, offering an open window for applying innovative medical resources. This has attracted leading global partners to explore practical solutions and accelerate the translation of new drugs and devices from bench to bedside.”

Illumina continues to invest in research and clinical solutions to expand advanced tumor profiling and meet diverse biomarker testing needs. In August 2024, the FDA approved TruSight Oncology Comprehensive, the first United States FDA–approved distributable comprehensive genomic profiling in vitro diagnostic with pan-cancer companion diagnostic claims.

Au Siu Kie, a professor at the Hong Kong Integrated Oncology Centre and coauthor of the JCO Precision Oncology paper “Consensus Statements on Precision Oncology in the China Greater Bay Area,” also spoke about how the measure, and expert consensus, are transforming cancer care: “This year, FDA-approved products such as TSO Comprehensive are expected to become available in Hong Kong, expanding access to advanced CGP options for patients.” He added that this broadens the reach of precision medicine and helps improve the affordability of internationally approved therapies under local reimbursement systems, “which ultimately benefits more patients.”

Deepening local innovation

Illumina continues to expand local investment and strengthen customer service and support in China. As of this June, the registration of certain Illumina products by its commercial partner Berry Genomics enabled high-throughput clinical sequencing for applications in genetic disease, reproductive health, and oncology. This year, Illumina also launched its Beijing Customer Engagement Center and its official e-commerce platform on WeChat, creating a full-channel service ecosystem.

Jenny Zheng, global senior vice president and the company’s general manager of Greater China, said: “We will work hand in hand with experts at home and abroad to accelerate translation of scientific discoveries, ensuring that cutting-edge technologies truly benefit patients. As oncology research in China continues to deepen and innovative technologies gain wider adoption, the synergistic development of NGS and multiomics, combined with our localization strategy, will contribute China’s wisdom and solutions to global cancer prevention and treatment.”