The U.K. government is to invest £500 million (US$645 million) in a health data research service that will provide a single point of access to national-scale anonymized patient records, ending the need to navigate different systems or make multiple applications to use information.
The sparsity of mid-to-late stage prospects in atopic dermatitis (AD, or eczema) – which has proved an especially challenging indication – plus some newsmaking fizzles in the space have caused developers to probe new targets with particular intensity. Most popular approaches thus far involve IL-4, IL-13, thymic stromal lymphopoietin and JAK. Developers have stumbled for varying reasons such as high placebo response rates, safety or lack of clinical proof of concept. Among the potential AD rescuers is Nektar Therapeutics Inc. with rezpegaldesleukin (rezpeg), which takes aim at IL-2.
Tryptamine Therapeutics Ltd. is gearing up to enter the clinic with lead compound TRP-8803, an intravenous-infused psilocybin therapy, in patients with binge eating disorder in conjunction with psychotherapy.
“We’ve lost 1,000 person-years of expertise in a few weeks,” former U.S. FDA Commissioner David Kessler said in an April 9 House Oversight and Government Reform hearing as he discussed the impact of the termination of 3,500 FDA employees the previous week, on top of the 1,000 who were let go or offered retirement in February.
Alzheon Inc.’s oral treatment for people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease missed its phase III primary endpoint, adding yet another therapy to a long list by many developers that can’t beat dementia. The study also received grant money, which is in increasingly short supply.
The current treatment strategies for neurodegenerative diseases focus on targeting Aβ in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), α-synuclein aggregates in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and anti-tau therapies, which are primarily used in AD but are also being explored for PD. At the 2025 International Conference of Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s Disease and Related Neurological Disorders, Aditya Iyer, senior RD scientist from Amyl Therapeutics Srl, presented data on an option which could potentially serve as a pan-amyloid therapeutic.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Abbvie, Avidity, Astrazeneca, Catalyst, Comanche, Daiichi Sankyo, Kura Oncology, Kye, Kyowa Kirin, Outlook, Tenpoint, Theratechnologies, Vertex.
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Defence, Evenus, Fresenius Kabi, Hengrui, Kaken, Kalvista, Ocuvex, Onconetix, Pacira, Synthego, Vita.
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Argenx, Cartesian, Harmony, J&J, Maat, Opus Genetics, Rallybio, Sellas.
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