In August 2025, BioWorld logged 95 clinical trial updates across phases I to III, compared to 140 tracked in July and 254 in June. Among them, 15 phase III studies delivered positive results, while one trial each reported a failure and mixed outcome.

Sovargen Co. Ltd. inked a $550 million license deal with Angelini Pharma SpA, granting Angelini development and commercialization rights to SVG-105, a novel antisense oligonucleotide drug candidate in preclinical development as a potential treatment for intractable epilepsy.

Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. struck another $1 billion-plus deal, this time for a HER2-targeting antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), trastuzumab rezetecan (SHR-A1811), with Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd.’s subsidiary Glenmark Specialty SA.

Novo Nordisk A/S terminated its global licensing deal with Japan’s Heartseed Inc. for its allogeneic induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cardiomyocytes.

Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Health Hope Pharma Ltd. may be getting a second wind for encequidar and the Orascovery platform, with Gilead Sciences Inc. picking up exclusive global rights to develop and commercialize encequidar in the field of virology for $2.5 million up front.

The threat of tariffs on imports of branded drugs is about to be realized after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 100% import duty will apply beginning Oct. 1. However, the flurry of recent announcements by pharma companies of investments in U.S. manufacturing plants may have paid off, with the president saying in his announcement on Truth Social that the 100% rate will be enforced “unless a company is building their manufacturing plant in America.”

Clarivate plc has unveiled the 2025 Citation Laureates. Widely considered a predictor of the Nobel Prizes, this recognition has highlighted the discovery of biomolecular condensates in chemistry and the innate immunity signaling pathway in physiology or medicine, as well as the identification of leukemia stem cells and ghrelin, the so-called hunger hormone.