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.
Danish pharma major Novo Nordisk and privately-held Californian firm Deep Apple Therapeutics have announced a research collaboration and exclusive worldwide license agreement. 11 June 2025
The UK’s medicines regulator has released a suite of new guidelines to steer companies through its upcoming decentralized manufacturing framework, set to come into effect on July 23, 2025. 11 June 2025
Italian family-owned drugmaker Chiesi Group and Sweden’s Key2Brain today announced a worldwide license agreement to advance the development of two blood-brain barrier (BBB)-crossing recombinant enzyme replacement therapies (ERT) for lysosomal storage disorders (LSD). 11 June 2025
The UK government has doubled the rate that pharma companies must repay on the sales of newer products to the National Health Service (NHS) under the statutory scheme for branded medicines in the second half of 2025, to a record 31.3%. 11 June 2025
China-based biotech Innogen is making a strategic pivot toward international visibility following regulatory clearance of its first-in-class, ultra-long-acting GLP-1 receptor agonist for type 2 diabetes, alongside a move to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. 11 June 2025
Gilead Sciences has paused five clinical trials of its investigational HIV drugs GS-1720 and GS-4182 after the American medicines regulator raised safety concerns. The once-weekly oral regimen was being studied as an alternative to the company’s blockbuster daily pill, Biktarvy (bictegravir/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide). 11 June 2025
A fresh attempt to bring more pharmaceutical manufacturing back to US soil has put the sector on alert, as a new executive order from Donald Trump seeks to overhaul how American medicines are made and regulated. But a research note from GlobalData suggests the move could raise as many questions as it tries to answer. 10 June 2025
Germany-based mental health specialist atai Life Sciences is to buy privately-held UK psychedelic drug developer Beckley Psytech in an all-share transaction subject to pre-agreed BPL-003 (mebufotenin benzoate) Phase IIb success criteria. 10 June 2025
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has removed all 17 members of a key vaccine advisory committee, a move officials say is aimed at rebuilding public trust in the country’s immunization policies. 10 June 2025
Following global reports of serious adverse events in older people, the government’s independent expert advisory body, the UK’s Commission on Human Medicines (CHM), has temporarily restricted use of a chikungunya vaccine called Ixchiq in people aged 65 and over until a further safety review has been concluded. 10 June 2025
German science and technology firm Merck KGaA has moved a step closer to introducing a new therapy for tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT) in China, with regulators accepting its marketing application and initiating a priority review for pimicotinib. 10 June 2025
In Latin America, the average percentage of the public budget for health is 12.75%, half of what is allocated by the 38 countries that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which on average is 24.5%. 9 June 2025
Italian drug discovery specialist Axxam and German AI firm Molecular Health have struck a strategic alliance aimed at improving the precision and speed of therapeutic target identification across multiple disease areas. 9 June 2025
Privately-held Italian pharma company Italfarmaco today revealed that the European Commission (EC) has granted conditional marketing authorization for Duvyzat (givinostat), a novel histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor. 9 June 2025
George Medicines, a late-stage UK-based biopharmaceutical company focused on addressing unmet needs in cardiometabolic disease, revealed a regulatory approval that it says could reshape hypertension treatment in the USA. 9 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