Entry Details

About the Entry

Category: 
Overall Excellence > Best Body of Work > By a Staff Journalist

Title of entry: 
Jacob Bell delivers insider insights on neuroscience

Issue or Publication date:
9/25/2025, 1/31/2025, 7/1/2025, 10/12/2025, 5/6/2025

Publication name: 
BioPharma Dive

Entry URLs

Best Body of Work Essay: 
Whether writing a daily news item or leading a six-month investigation, BioPharma Dive Senior Reporter Jacob Bell consistently produces pieces that advance the industry conversation and shine a light on issues other reporters don’t cover. Biopharma industry news can be dry and very technical. Most mainstream publications focus more on the business side, while some niche media lean heavily into the complex science. Bell possesses the incredible ability to blend together both, especially in neuroscience, makes him an outstanding journalist.

Bell’s years of daily reporting on the latest mergers, funding rounds, clinical trial results and breakthroughs give him a superpower to pull specific, relevant information from the trove of neuroscience information released over the last several decades to contextualize in his quick-hit daily coverage or his beautifully crafted, insightful features.

This year, several pieces illustrate how he leverages his incredible skill to elevate the news and trends in the industry, while also keeping target readers engaged through his storytelling talents.

In January, Bell wrote a piece on a non-opioid pain drug released by Vertex, a drug that was heralded by many because it was not habit-forming. He was among the first to outline potential issues — later, at least preliminarily, substantiated by slower-than-expected sales — that made the drug not the cure-all some had hoped. Bell waited to publish the story until there was an approval of the molecule, instead of earlier in the development process, to provide a more nuanced view of the drug and demonstrate how niche publications can go beyond what is reported in mainstream journalism.

Showing his range, he took a more explanatory approach to a similar area for one of BioPharma Dive’s State of Play articles. Bell drew in a broader audience with his coverage, taking a step back to contextualize the industry's work beyond the Vertex pain drug.

With his piece on the lack of pain drug development for cancer patients, Bell showed what he does best: take a business story about science and make it resonate with people through his artistry. The deeply reported, investigative feature took more than half a year of intense sourcing and work to ensure that Bell could uncover the untold stories and questions about the lack of treatments and what they meant for both the industry and the patients.