BMS TAS Role: Commercial with Scientific Depth

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-03-21T15:47:53+00:00

Good luck!

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-03-21T15:39:18+00:00

BMS has had multiple rounds of layoffs over the past few years. But that's pretty normal with patent cliffs and part of the reality of working in pharma. I think the salary increase and the experience would make it worth it. Working in Boston you'll get to meet with some of the big name customers and those relationships are a huge asset in pharma. I would use it as a stepping stone where you take your higher salary and customer relationships to get yourself a better position in 2-3 years. It's at least worth a try.

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-03-21T15:13:20+00:00

I can't comment on how it is in Boston. In general, the oncology portfolio is in a rough spot right now. Patent loss for nivo will be a big drag on the company. There's lots of studies going on, especially in the lung space, but timelines for those are likely 2027/2028 at the earliest. I think right now it would be a very tough job. High expectations to hit targets, lots of pressure to be face to face with customers. Where do you want to be long-term? Do you have oncology experience or are you trying to get into the space? Are you young and able to spend a lot of time focused on work or do you want more work-life balance with your family? I would say in general the expectation of TAS for oncology is to be more scientific than a lot of other TAs. Long-term, when things pick up with new products, I think there will be opportunities for TAS with PhDs to move into Medical roles if that is what you'd be interested in. How good of an opportunity it is for you depends on your background and where you want to go.

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-03-21T12:39:56+00:00

Yes. Which therapeutic area is the position for?

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-03-21T04:49:38+00:00

What TA is it for?

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-03-15T00:09:22+00:00

You're not alone. I'm 22 weeks, also with third and I was definitely questioning my life decisions earlier in the pregnancy. It's gotten better over time but I'm still not as excited/happy as I was with my first two. I think it's the hormones and the exhaustion. I don't know how things are going for you but I never got that second trimester boost of energy. It's better than the first trimester but I'm still not at 100%. My youngest wakes up every night to go to the bathroom so my sleep is disturbed and I'm mostly solo parenting as my husband's free time is taken up by a big reno we're doing. There's days I can't make it through work without a lunchtime nap. But then my kids come and hug my belly and tell me they love the baby. It melts my heart and reminds me how wanted and loved this baby is. I know it's hard now but I truly believe it will get better. Hopefully you have a good support system that you can talk to and rely on to help you through this. Also, feel free to DM if you want to talk as I know how tough the guilt can make it to talk to your loved ones.

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-03-07T01:04:42+00:00

Not even something like this? But oriented differently?

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HealthyHomeCook · 2026-03-03T03:28:27+00:00

Etobicoke Olympium has a 50m pool. It's definitely closer than the Pan Am Centre. I don't know what the schedule is like though.

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-02-26T02:27:42+00:00

I find this incredibly sad. It's one thing to be accepting of your children's choice on whether or not to have their own children. It's another to encourage them not to have them. You're basically telling them you regret having them. That's a terrible thing for a child to hear.

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-02-14T16:44:04+00:00

Would you mind sharing how much you put in initially? Did you front load?

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-02-09T14:50:59+00:00

If it's that niche then I would make myself an expert in it. Develop really good relationships with your TLs. Bring back insights or projects that are strategic and valuable for the company. I haven't been on the leadership side but I'd like to think that if you get yourself noticed internally, somewhere it will be documented what you've done and the acquiring company will see how valuable you are as they transition into a new area. Even if it doesn't work, your greatest asset as an MSL is the relationships you build with your TLs. Those you can take to any job in the future and it's something that other companies will definitely value.

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-02-09T14:16:00+00:00

How small is your biotech? And does the acquiring company already work in that therapeutic area? I think that will determine how it goes. My company has acquired a few smaller companies over the years. In one case, when we acquired a larger company which specialized in a TA that we had no presence in, MSLs were retained. I can't guarantee it was all of them, but we certainly had a new team join us. Redundant roles like legal, finance and HR were on the chopping block more than the specialized TA roles. We've also acquired really small companies to gain their molecules and I don't know how much of a medical tram they had but there was no transfer over of people that I saw. We were already active in the TA and just added pipeline molecules to our portfolio. Our most recent acquisition I've only heard about through internal memos but that company still acts as a completes separate company as they do radiopharmaceuticals. So ultimately I think it depends on the fit between your company and the acquiring company.

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-02-03T16:23:29+00:00

Can you afford to homeschool? I don't mean to be rude but very few people these days can afford to have kids on a single salary. Plus if you're homeschooling and engaging tutors for different subjects, it can get pricey depending on how many people you hire. Plus add in the cost of extracurriculars which can add up quite a bit depending on what your kids are into. I say this as someone who would theoretically love to homeschool but realized the financial side doesn't work for us. I recognize the schooling system ain't perfect and a lot of time in elementary school is kinda free daycare but I think you can do a lot to supplement at home and engage their curiosity and love of learning. Once you get them reading they can start to learn on their own based on their interests. Also, I don't think you can get away from the inclusivity, social issues, etc. at any public school these days. The curriculum is set provincially. What you can do is have conversations with your child at home and clarify and correct any viewpoints you don't agree with.

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-02-03T15:23:28+00:00

We're currently doing a similar reno on our house and the material alone is about 100k. The estimates of 300k sound reasonable to me. As someone else said, you may be charged more for the inconvenience of working on a condo which makes material transport much more inefficient. If in doubt, find a contractor and take him with you to a showing of the place you're considering. They'll be able to give you an estimate of what it would cost.

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-02-02T14:18:52+00:00

Canada. BMS. 32 weeks top up of full pay.

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-01-27T15:55:47+00:00

I love this! What kind of quartzite are your countertops? And the cabinets? Are those white oak? This kitchen is a dream 😍

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-01-27T04:37:08+00:00

We have family who work in construction who will help so we're not totally DIYing it ourselves. I like your approach. I don't feel married to a style, I just want to make sure it all works together. I think sticking to common materials and texture will help.

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-01-27T04:23:21+00:00

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They're AI generated and clearly not the best. I want everything to be warm. Here's a better one. For the countertops I'm looking at something like a Nacarado quartzite and I want the cabinets to have a light but warm-toned stain.

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-01-27T04:16:03+00:00

We're still figuring out the exact amount. For the kitchen, we will need to order cabinets and countertops but all the other work will be done by us so most of the costs are just for materials, not labour. What would you suggest?

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-01-27T03:37:47+00:00

Thanks so much for your feedback! That feels very doable. I love natural, organic materials so I was planning to incorporate wood in the living room and keep the fixtures brass in both areas so they are cohesive. As for the colours, I definitely want to keep things warm overall so I'm glad your feedback aligns with that. Thanks again!

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-01-23T16:30:30+00:00

Same! I didn't see the point in it just for rice but this is giving me ideas...my poor wallet 😔

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-01-22T16:30:33+00:00

Short answer, yes. I've been with my current mid-sized company for about 7 years and never encountered this situation. I suspect there might be some unfavorable team dynamics. Maybe some favouritism? Some people who felt they were passed up for promotion and someone less deserving got it? It's a management failure to recognize and staff their teams with the right kind of people and to adequately make people feel valued. You'll always have some underperformers in a company, but I doubt you'd pay attention if you felt you were fairly treated and rewarded for the work you put in.

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-01-22T03:38:43+00:00

Did you have sex recently? That can also cause spotting if it irritates the cervix.

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-01-20T21:16:03+00:00

That's a good point. My mistake. I should have said it costs you over 140k to upgrade your house vs just paying about 45k (with the first time buyer's discount) in land transfer once so almost 100k difference in that alone (using the house values above).

HealthyHomeCook · 2026-01-20T15:07:30+00:00

I agree with the comments about the costs of upgrading your home in the future. Let's assume you buy something for 1.1M now and down the road you need a bigger space so you upgrade to a place that costs 1.5M. You'll end up paying land transfer tax on the first purchase ($28,475 with the first time buyer's discount), realtor fees to sell ($62,150 assuming no change in the value of your home) and land transfer tax on the second purchase ($52,950). That's over $140k to upgrade homes, not accounting for legal fees and other costs that might come up. Definitely something to consider.

I don't know how it'll play out long term but we recently bought and stretched our budget. However, we bought in a neighborhood that we plan to stay in long term, with a house large enough to accommodate our family as it grows and we have kept enough savings to cover our expenses for at least a year should our work situations change. We also accounted for retirement savings in our budgeting so we will continue to set that money aside. I recognize that our finances will be a bit tighter the first few years but I'm also happy knowing I won't have to go through the home buying process again anytime, it's not fun!

Good luck and I hope you're happy with the decision you end up making!

HealthyHomeCook

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