Therapy Areas

UK major will bag CSPC’s eight preclinical drug candidates in weight management, including most advanced asset SYH2082, a long-acting GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist with once-monthly dosing potential.

Roche's CT-388 shows promise in Phase II obesity trial but analysts question "commercial relevance" in a crowded market.

The company said amorphous rifaximin solid soluble dispersion did not meet the primary endpoint in two Phase III RED-C trials in the prevention of hepatic encephalopathy in patients with cirrhosis.

The Swiss pharma company is rebalancing the portfolio, emphasizing best-in-class drugs and moving into new areas like cardiovascular and metabolic disease.

perspectives 2026

While a record number of China-originated first-in-class drugs were approved domestically in 2025, only one has so far entered clinical development overseas with its originator as the sole sponsor. But more progress is expected this year.

Valneva's withdrawal of its chikungunya vaccine leaves Bavarian Nordic as the only remaining firm producing a shot for the condition in the US.

Novavax will get $30m up front for a non-exclusive license for its Matrix-M adjuvant, but the deal could bring in billions long-term. The biotech is negotiating similar deals with multiple firms.

The US giant is narrowing its focus on obesity and cancer.

Roche has a handful of key Phase III readouts from potential blockbusters this year, with its oral SERD, giredestrant, expected to be the centerpiece of a future breast cancer franchise.

The process will pit breast cancer treatment competitors Kisqali and Verzenio against each other as CMS develops pricing offers.

Multiple Chinese biotechs are seeking to raise new funds through IPOs on the Hong Kong and Beijing stock exchanges to support international clinical trials for their first-in-class molecules.

The company announced Phase II data and plans for its registrational Phase III trial as CEO Mark Erlander and chief financial officer James Levine left the company.

Coartem Baby to be rolled out in eight African countries in the autumn.

The Swiss major’s global health chief Lutz Hegemann tells Scrip on a trip to Rwanda that being a profitable enterprise while helping to improve access to new and older therapies for those who need it most is the real measure of a successful business.

Lotilaner, the active ingredient in Tarsus’s Demodex blepharitis drug Xdemvy, showed significant ability to kill ticks in a small Phase IIa study. Analysts call the Lyme program a likely out-licensing opportunity for Tarsus.

Gains from its COVID-19 vaccine made Serum Institute’s founder the world’s richest healthcare billionaire. But the demand for boosters hasn’t materialized as expected, leading to a deal with Biocon being tweaked. Meanwhile, gains from India’s first indigenously-developed HPV vaccine and Oxford-partnered malaria vaccine seem imminent.

Catch up on the developments released in the last days of 2025, from year-end FDA approvals, complete response letters and several trial disappointments.

The company, which was on the verge of bankruptcy last year, has secured an expanded approval for Omisirge for severe aplastic anemia.

Novartis presented Phase III results for anti-BAFF/ADCC antibody ianalumab in the second-line treatment of immune thrombocytopenia but will wait for first-line data to file for approvals in 2027.

The base-editing company’s risto-cel may have an efficacy edge over Vertex’s Casgevy, but both will be held back by safety concerns about chemotherapy preconditioning for patients.

Fund IV exclusively targets company creation and early-stage investing across the UK and the US.

While the biotech sector is optimistic once more, the annual conference did not bring a bounce to many companies.

The $172m acquisition will bring in Kylo-11, a Lp(a) inhibitor with potential once-yearly dosing, as well as other ultra long-acting siRNA candidates directed at APOC3, PCSK9 and other undisclosed targets in cardiovascular diseases.

CEO Vas Narasimhan told attendees at J.P. Morgan that the firm’s considerable financial firepower means it will continue to do “value-creating bolt-ons like you saw last year."