Recent progress in redressing the historical underfunding and neglect of women’s health could be undermined by the backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, according to executives participating in the FT Global Pharma and Biotech Summit 2025 in London Nov. 11-12.
The U.K. government has published a road map for phasing out animal testing in life sciences research and announced £75 million (US$98.6 million) for work to develop nonanimal models, leaving scientists concerned because they say, in many cases, there can never be meaningful alternatives to using live animals.
The industry has been complaining about the drug pricing and reimbursement policies of European governments for years, but only now with the Trump administration’s moves to enforce most favored nation (MFN) pricing and reduce the U.S./EU price gap are governments facing up to the reality that they will have to pay more for new drugs.
The U.K. government has published a road map for phasing out animal testing in life sciences research and announced £75 million (US$98.6 million) for work to develop nonanimal models, leaving scientists concerned because they say, in many cases, there can never be meaningful alternatives to using live animals.
Enara Bio Ltd. is staking a claim to having validated the first in a new class of tumor antigens derived from unannotated regions of the dark genome, describing its findings in talks and posters being presented at the Society of Immunotherapy in Cancer (SITC) meeting in National Harbor, Md., Nov. 5-9, 2025.
Not quite a newco, Alethio Therapeutics has emerged from a period of introspection with new management and a refreshed vision of how best to translate its roots in the biology of chronic, untreatable blood cancers into meaningful therapies.
Five-year follow-up data for Santhera Pharmaceuticals AG’s Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) drug, Agamree (vamorolone), confirm that its efficacy in preserving muscle function is comparable to standard-of-care corticosteroids, but that the overall side-effect profile is more benign. There was less positive DMD news from Sarepta Therapeutics Inc.
The U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Agency (MHRA) has committed to major reforms of how it regulates drugs for rare diseases, making it easier to run clinical trials and get approvals. The new rules will be published in full early in 2026 and come into effect later in the year, but following consultation with industry, academics and patients’ groups, the agency has released a position paper setting out its plans.
Pfizer Inc. has delivered on its threat of legal action against the attempt by Novo Nordisk A/S to scupper its acquisition of Metsera Inc., and has filed two lawsuits, one alleging breach of contract, and a second claiming that a merger of Novo Nordisk and Metsera would violate antitrust regulations.
Neurodegeneration specialist Vesper Bio ApS has announced positive results from the phase Ib/II trial of its oral sortilin inhibitor VES-001 in frontotemporal dementia. The small study involved six participants who had not progressed to symptomatic disease but were carriers of mutations in the GRN gene that codes for progranulin, a growth factor that is essential for neuronal health.