24 July 2025 Hospitals are rationing cancer treatments. Pharmacies are scrambling to fill routine antibiotic prescriptions. And across the USA, patients are facing growing delays, substitutions, or outright denials of essential medicines, not because the drugs don’t exist, but because the supply chains behind them have buckled.
US trade association PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America) has cited a new IQVIA study that found that Medicare Part D plans routinely deny access to prescribed medicines for patients with newly-diagnosed chronic conditions. 17 June 2025
French drug developer Averoa today announced that the European Commission (EC) has granted marketing authorization for Xoanacyl (ferric citrate coordination complex). 16 June 2025
China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) held a meeting last week to conduct the 2024 annual review of the quality management system (QMS) in vaccine regulation and pharmaceutical manufacturing inspection. 16 June 2025
With exports valued at 105.5 billion Swiss francs ($130.2 billion) and a 38.5% share of total exports, the pharmaceutical industry is Switzerland's most important export sector. 16 June 2025
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has notified KalVista Pharmaceutical that it will not meet the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) goal date for the New Drug Application (NDA) for sebetralstat, the company’s investigational oral on-demand treatment for hereditary angioedema (HAE). 14 June 2025
The International Finance Facility for Immunization (IFFIm) has announced the settlement of its £300 million ($407 million), three-year 4.25% fixed-rate bond that was announced on June 3. 14 June 2025
Anglo-Swedish pharma major AstraZeneca has entered a strategic research collaboration with Shijiazhuang City-based CSPC Pharmaceuticals Group. 13 June 2025
Germany’s Merck KGaA has presented detailed results from cohort B of the global Phase II WILLOW study of enpatoran, an investigational, oral, novel TLR7/8 inhibitor in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). 13 June 2025
Symbiosis Pharmaceutical Services (Symbiosis), a global contract manufacturing organization (CMO) specializing in sterile manufacture of injectable drug products, has appointed Angelika Rublack as senior business development manager to support its expanding global client base and drive growth across several territories. 13 June 2025
UK pharma major GSK today revealed that it has licensed its Shigella vaccine candidate, altSonflex1-2-3, to India’s Bharat Biotech International (BBIL). 13 June 2025
Novo Nordisk late Thursday announced that it will advance subcutaneous (SC) and oral amycretin into Phase III development in weight management based on completed clinical studies and feedback received from regulatory authorities. 13 June 2025
The Russian pharmaceutical market is showing positive dynamics these days, despite the ever-tightening sanctions regime and the growing isolation of Russia in the international arena, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent. 13 June 2025
Novartis has unveiled further data for Fabhalta (iptacopan), reinforcing its position in the paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) market and adding momentum to the oral drug’s expanding presence across rare blood and kidney disorders. 13 June 2025
The American medicines regulator has approved Zusduri (mitomycin), a hydrogel-based treatment developed by US biotech UroGen Pharma, for adults with recurrent low-grade, intermediate-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (LG-IR-NMIBC). 13 June 2025
Research services company IQVIA has unveiled new AI agents built using NVIDIA technology that are designed to enhance workflows and accelerate insights for life sciences. 12 June 2025
Syndax Pharmaceuticals, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing innovative cancer therapies, today announced new data from the pivotal AUGMENT-101 trial of Revuforj (revumenib), the company’s first-in-class menin inhibitor, in patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) mutant NPM1 (mNPM1) and NUP98-rearranged (NUP98r) acute myeloid leukemia (AML). 12 June 2025
South Korean drugmaker JW Pharmaceutical has received regulatory approval in China for an injectable antibiotic made with its own synthesized active ingredient, marking a strategic expansion into the Asian market. 12 June 2025
US biotech Novavax has reported that its experimental combination COVID-19 and influenza vaccine generated immune responses on par with approved shots in a descriptive Phase III trial involving older adults. The company said the results would help shape a future registrational study. 12 June 2025
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has notified Bayer that it has extended the review period for the New Drug Application (NDA) for elinzanetant, the first neurokinin 1 and neurokinin 3 receptor antagonist for the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (VMS; also known as hot flashes) due to menopause. 26 July 2025
US pharma major Bristol Myers Squibb revealed it has appointed Dr Cristian Massacesi as executive vice president, chief medical officer and head of development, effective August 1, 2025. 26 July 2025
French diabetes and obesity specialist Adocia was trading 45% higher late Friday following its partner Tonghua Dongbao’s release of positive topline results from the Phase III trial of BioChaperone Lispro (THDB0206 injection), a novel ultra-rapid insulin formulation. 25 July 2025
The European Medicines’ (EMA) human medicines committee (CHMP) has recommended seven novel medicines for approval at its July 2025 meeting. 25 July 2025
Semaglutide, a GLP-1R agonist developed by Denmark’s Novo Nordisk as Ozempic, initially for type 2 diabetes, and marketed under the trade name Wegovy for obesity, is emerging as a promising candidate for neurological conditions. 25 July 2025
The Trump administration has asked the US Supreme Court to allow the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to resume canceling hundreds of research grants supporting work on health equity, racial disparities, and other diversity-related public health initiatives. 25 July 2025
Swiss pharma major Novartis has entered into an exclusive option and license deal with Matchpoint Therapeutics to develop oral covalent inhibitors for inflammatory diseases, the companies said on July 24. The privately held biotech could receive as much as $1 billion in total payments if milestones are met. 25 July 2025
Privately-held Danish dermatology specialist LEO Pharma today revealed that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Anzupgo (delgocitinib) cream (20 mg/g) for the topical treatment of moderate-to-severe chronic hand eczema (CHE) in adults who have had an inadequate response to, or for whom topical corticosteroids are not advisable. 24 July 2025
The number of new pharmaceutical companies being set up in Russia is steadily declining due to sanctions and the ever-growing isolation of the country in the international arena, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent. 24 July 2025
China remains the most popular country for clinical trials outside North America and Europe in the second quarter (Q2) of 2025, according to a report by the data and analytics company GlobalData. 24 July 2025
Swiss pharma giant Roche this morning released financial results for the first half of 2025, showing that sales grew 7% (+4% in Swiss francs) to 30.9 billion francs ($35.1 billion) due to strong demand for pharmaceutical products. Sales were in line with Visible Alpha consensus of 30.80 billion francs. 24 July 2025
Russian nano giant Rusnano is cutting its pharmaceutical business by beginning a search for buyers for its major pharmaceutical asset – the local drugmaker Novamedica, The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent reports 23 July 2025
Privately-held Spanish CNS specialist Minoryx Therapeutics and Germany’s Neuraxpharm Group today announced that the marketing authorization application (MAA) for Minoryx’ lead candidate Nezglyal (leriglitazone) has been submitted to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the treatment of pediatric and adult male patients with cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (cALD). 23 July 2025
Swiss contract development and manufacturing group Lonza posted a 19% rise in revenue at constant currencies to 3.6 billion Swiss francs ($4.5 billion) for the first half of 2025, driven by strong demand across its core CDMO operations. Core earnings per share rose 7% to 7.52 francs ($9.01). 23 July 2025
Neuraxpharm Group, a privately-held German specialty pharma focused on central nervous system (CNS) disorders, today announced the launch of a new affiliate, Neuraxpharm Australia, led by newly appointed head of commercial, Avendran Naidu, as the company continues to expand globally. 22 July 2025
Ireland-based Alkermes has announced positive topline results from the randomized double-blind treatment period of the Vibrance-1 Phase II study evaluating alixorexton in patients with narcolepsy type 1 (NT1). 22 July 2025