The Royal College of Psychiatrists in the U.K. has published its first-ever guidance to support research into psychedelic drugs as therapies for conditions including treatment-resistant depression, substance abuse disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder, saying that in a fast-moving field there is a risk of jumping ahead of the evidence.
Following the first approvals in the U.K., Canada, Australia and Switzerland, the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) is now recommending approval of Bayer AG’s Lynkuet (elinzanetant), a non-hormonal treatment for symptoms of menopause. The drug, the first dual neurokinin-1 and neurokinin-3 receptor antagonist, is for the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms, also known as hot flashes.
The dash for MASH is gaining momentum, with Roche AG acquiring 89bio Inc. and its phase III FGF21 analogue, pegozafermin, for treating metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, in a deal worth up to $3.5 billion. The Swiss pharma is to pay $14.50 per share, valuing San Francisco-based 89Bio at $2.4 billion, a premium of approximately 52% to 89bio’s 60-day average price on Sept. 17, 2025. Shares of 89bio (NASDAQ:ETNB) gained $6.88, or 85%, to close Sept. 18 at $14.96.
With positive phase III results in hand, Roivant Sciences Ltd. and Priovant Therapeutics Inc. anticipate an NDA filing in the first half of 2026, seeking approval for brepocitinib, a dual inhibitor of tyrosine kinase 2 and JAK1, in dermatomyositis, a rare autoimmune disease with limited treatment options.
A new generative AI model trained on UK Biobank data can simultaneously forecast the risks and timing of developing over 1,000 different diseases a decade into the future. The developers applied similar algorithmic concepts to those used to develop large language models like ChatGPT and Gemini to build the model, using medical records from 402,799 participants in UK Biobank.
The U.K.’s failure to join the dots from discovery research to patient access to innovative drugs was cited repeatedly by pharma leaders, who were called to an emergency hearing in parliament on Tuesday to explain decisions to pull out of promised capital investments.
CSL Ltd. inked a potential $2.1 billion deal with Dutch biotech company Varmx BV to develop VMX-C001 as a new treatment to restore blood coagulation in patients taking a factor Xa inhibitor.
Although cagrilintide from Novo Nordisk A/S proved less than impressive when paired with GLP-1 agonist semaglutide in a single drug known as Cagrisema, the dual long-acting amylin analogue and calcitonin receptor agonist is looking good as a monotherapy in a subanalysis of the phase III Redefine-1 trial.
Two months after it was launched, the wheels are coming off the U.K. government’s 10-year life sciences strategy, with pharma companies withholding promised capital investments in protest at the row over drug pricing. Merck & Co. Inc., Astrazeneca plc and Eli Lilly and Co. Inc. have said they are not going ahead with previously announced investments.
Remynd NV has turned in positive phase IIa data for a new target in Alzheimer’s disease, showing that restoring calcium homeostasis in neurons reduces levels of pathological tau proteins, increases dopamine levels and has a positive effect on cognition in symptomatic patients.
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