ASC30's Phase I study has produced the best-yet weight loss achieved by an oral drug at 28 days, and it could be a serious rival for Lilly’s frontrunner orforglipron.

Big pharma once again fails to dominate the top 20 expected best sellers from products due for launch this year. Small-to-medium pharma account for nearly half the list, while Vertex has two products in the top five.

Pfizer has been unable to take a big slice of the meningococcal vaccine market with Penbraya and now GSK looks set to consolidate its lead with its new 5-in-1 vaccine.

Having built its portfolio from university collaborations and targeted in-licensing, the UK firm now hopes to validate its business model with Phase II readouts in 2025.

After coming up blank with its in-house oncology efforts, the German conglomerate is mulling a deal to acquire the US specialist company which has just managed a new drug approval for mirdametinib.

As the architect of the company’s hugely successful business model, Stuart Arbuckle, departs, he hands over a portfolio expanding beyond its cystic fibrosis base, but one that might be slow to build revenues for Casgevy and Journavx.