Four years after they were first mooted, the finishing line is in sight for new U.K. clinical regulations, which will come into force on April 28. In the first major update since 2004, about 20% of lower-risk studies are expected to be approved by a fast track, and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency will introduce a 14-day assessment route for phase I healthy volunteer trials, amongst other measures to streamline approvals.

Corxel Pharmaceuticals Ltd. completed a $287 million series D round to advance its lead compound, an oral small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist, CX-11, for obese and overweight patients.

The U.S. NIH may be weathering the budget storm thanks to bipartisan congressional support, but another squall line is forming on the horizon over politicization of the research agency.

The structurally similar cytokines IL-2 and IL-15, and their shared beta subunit CD122, are keeping developers busy across a range of indications. Though some scientific confusion has plagued the space historically, drug candidates have drawn deals and Wall Street interest aplenty. Amgen Inc., Novartis AG, and Incyte Corp. are among those who’ve made their interest known.

CD122 – shared beta subunit of the IL-15 and IL-2 receptors, two targets for the figurative price of one – has drawn the eyes of many drug developers, among them Anaptysbio Inc., which will roll out phase Ib results in celiac disease during the fourth quarter of this year with ANB-033. The San Diego-based firm intends to weigh the candidate in a second inflammatory disease. Under consideration is eosinophilic esophagitis, an indication that has itself proven widely intriguing.

After only three $1 billion-plus biopharma deals in November, December saw 14 blockbuster deals worth a total of $21.92 billion, including four deals worth more than $2 billion.

As China emerges as a critical commercial market and a source of global innovation, the newly released 2026 edition of Clarivate’s Drugs to Watch report highlights six drugs to watch in the China market for the year ahead.

Biopharma financing values have shown quarterly volatility over the past decade, with surges often concentrated in specific quarters rather than evenly distributed throughout the year. The pandemic era marked a clear inflection point, and more recently, financing patterns have normalized with outsized quarters driving annual totals. In 2025, total financings accelerated as the year progressed, rising from $13.12 billion in the first quarter (Q1) to $18.92 billion in Q3 to a peak of $33.16 billion in Q4, the strongest quarter since early 2024.

U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled his “Great Healthcare Plan” Jan. 15, an initiative he said would slash prescription drug prices, maximize price transparency in the health care system and hold big insurance companies accountable.