New U.K. clinical trials regulations coming into force today, April 28, aim to reduce the time taken to get approval for studies and introduce a category of lower risk trials which will be automatically assessed in 14 days. The key measure to cut timelines is the Combined Review, under which sponsors will be able to submit a single application for regulatory review by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and ethics review by the Health Research Authority, the body responsible for managing ethics committees.

The funding momentum that was building at the end of 2025 was maintained in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026, with a rebound in venture capital (VC) investment in U.K. biotech. Overall investment in the sector during Q1 was £552 million (US$748 million), of which £516 million was in VC.

Artificial intelligence tools are springing up at multiple points along drug discovery and development, but despite the hype, as yet there is minimal return on investment (ROI). “I would say a lot of companies sort of get this big excitement about AI, but then when you look at how much ROI they get, it’s actually very little. And that’s because the workflow and the process, end-to-end, isn’t mapped to really understand where AI can truly make an impact,” said Laura Matz, chief science and technology officer at Merck KGaA.

Artificial intelligence tools are springing up at multiple points along drug discovery and development, but despite the hype, as yet there is minimal return on investment (ROI). “I would say a lot of companies sort of get this big excitement about AI, but then when you look at how much ROI they get, it’s actually very little. And that’s because the workflow and the process, end-to-end, isn’t mapped to really understand where AI can truly make an impact,” said Laura Matz, chief science and technology officer at Merck KGaA.

Netris Pharma SA has delivered positive phase Ib data showing its first-in-class netrin-1 inhibitor NP-137 alleviates resistance to chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer. This could represent an important advance in treating these tumors, which are notoriously resistant to chemotherapy.

Researchers in the U.K. have developed an AI-driven method of identifying viruses in wild animals with the potential to spillover into humans. The technique makes it possible to use the genome sequences of the spike proteins by which viruses enter host cells to assess the potential to infect humans without having to isolate an individual virus and tests its infectivity in the lab.

Roche Holding AG is making good on its promise to try and convince the EMA of the benefits of Elevidys (delandistrogene moxeparvovec), announcing a further global phase III trial of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy.

The ongoing controversy over the effectiveness of anti-amyloid drugs is about to get more heated, after a review of clinical trials showed statistically significant results do not read across to clinical benefit for patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

RNA epigenetics specialist Storm Therapeutics Ltd. has closed a $56 million series C to fund phase II development of its lead RNA enzyme inhibitor, STC-15, in treating myo- and liposarcomas, and announced that the first patient has been treated in the trial.