Alex has held a variety of editorial positions of increasing seniority on Scrip since joining the publication as a science reporter in 1998. Currently, she heads up the European editorial team coverage of commercial and R&D developments, while also writing news, analysis and features. Over the years, Alex has covered breakthroughs in R&D in a range of therapeutic areas, including infectious diseases, cardiology and cancer, and she enjoys interviewing key industry players and opinion leaders. Alex has a degree in Biochemistry and Microbiology from the University of Leeds and a keen interest in medical history.
Latest from Alexandra Shimmings
2026 has already seen some interesting late-stage trial readouts, from Sanofi’s anti-OX40L antibody, amlitelimab, in atopic dermatitis to Vertex’s APRIL/BAFF inhibitor, povetacicept, in IgA nephropathy. Here Scrip surveys of some of the more interesting Phase III clinical trials still to come.
The US giant could pay up to $1.12bn to the German biotech after getting access to its programmable recombinase technology.
R&D advances are grist to the pharma mill, and those clinical trials that can be deemed successes are particularly welcome. Here are the top five or so study hits (many come in pairs) that got readers clicking in 2025.
Insmed’s brensocatib has comprehensively failed in a mid-stage study in chronic rhinosinusitis, which would have been a second potential blockbuster indication for the DPP1 inhibitor.
Innoviva’s Nuzolvence looks to have a convenience edge as it and GSK’s Blujepa step into a growing market that has seen little in the way of innovation for decades, but neither is likely to displace low-cost alternatives.
The data show promise for the investigational SERD as an adjuvant monotherapy, bringing it earlier in the treatment arc for ER-positive/HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer. The next major step for the product is preservERA.