Welcome to the October issue of The Pharmafile Brief, where we bring you the latest developments shaping healthcare and pharma.
In this fourth issue, we focus on breast cancer, in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, alongside key advances in immunology. Our Five Facts highlight important – and sometimes lesser-known – aspects of breast cancer, and we also explore how natural remedies are being investigated for their therapeutic potential. Beyond science, we examine how innovation, policy and strategy are reshaping the sector.
A highlight this month is our interview with Professor Martin Metz of Charité University, Berlin, who sheds light on chronic spontaneous urticaria, a common immunological skin condition. He stresses the need for greater awareness and discusses the latest progress in treatment development.
Professor Imed Gallouzi of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Abu Dhabi, highlights promising early-stage research into the therapeutic potential of tea leaves and marine organisms for breast cancer, demonstrating how natural compounds are being explored alongside new biomedical approaches.
We hope you enjoy reading this issue of The Pharmafile Brief. Look out for the next issue in early November, with more new, in-depth analysis across pharma, biotech and healthcare.
Pharmafile chats with Colin Williams, Head of Marketing Excellence, Global Capabilities, Learning & Development at Astellas Pharma about the best parts of his job and his proudest moments.
HCPs and patients are demanding personalised, streamlined experiences. Hemal Somaiya, Chief Strategy Officer, PharmaForceIQ, discusses how optichannel engagement offers a precision-based alternative to traditional engagement models. Why do we need to evolve from traditional engagement models? Traditional engagement models no longer meet the expectations of audiences, especially in today’s fragmented media landscape. Healthcare professionals (HCPs)...
In the third of the Gateway to Local Adoption series, Visions4Health caught up with James Scott, Digital and Informatics Specialist Pharmacist, to discuss his views about fostering a culture of digital transformation and upskilling the workforce to drive the analog to digital transition in the NHS.
Commercial clinical trials are a high-value growth driver for a country's health and the economy and a key component of the government's 10 Year Health Plan and Life Sciences Sector Plan. But global competition to host international trials is fierce. Dr Maria Koufali, Life Sciences Industry Director for the National Institute for Health and Care...
1 There are striking inequities in breast cancer burden regarding the Human Development Index (HDI), the United Nation’s measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development. In countries with a very high HDI, one in 12 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime and for one in 71 women it...
Looking beyond synthetic chemistry to unlock powerful, naturally derived medicines Each year, World Breast Cancer Awareness Month serves as a reminder of the immense progress made against this disease and of the work still ahead. While survival rates have improved in many parts of the world, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains one of the most...
Pharmafile talks to Emma Roffe, Oncology Country Head (UK & Ireland) about the combination treatment landscape and the impact of Takeda’s implementation framework, while advocating for needed change.
LGC Group, a life sciences company, has opened its new Organic Chemistry Synthesis Centre of Excellence in Ontario, Canada after a CAD $100m investment. The 203,000 ft² (17,200 m²) facility will expand Toronto Research Chemicals’ (TRC) capacity to serve pharmaceutical, biotechnology and life sciences customers worldwide. Founded more than 40 years ago and acquired by...
Crown Bioscience, a US global contract research organisation (CRO) that is part of JSR Life Sciences and Japan-based JSR Corporation, has opened a model development centre in North Carolina, US. The investment expands the company’s operations and its ability to deliver advanced preclinical oncology models, including patient-derived xenografts (PDX), PDX warm models, PDX-derived organoids (PDXO),...
UCB has reported positive early clinical trial results for galvokimig, an investigational therapy for adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD). Findings from the phase 1/2a study were presented this week at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Congress in Paris, France. At week 12, 64.9% of patients receiving galvokimig achieved at least a 75%...
NeoVac, a clinical-stage biopharma based in Abingdon, UK, has appointed Jan H Egberts as chief executive officer. The company is developing RNA-based therapies using its proprietary lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery platform. Egberts brings more than 25 years of executive leadership experience across the pharma and healthcare investment sectors. Most recently, he was CEO of Veritas...
Danny Wolin has been appointed as Senior Vice President of Real-World Evidence at KJT. KJT is an evidence-based healthcare consulting firm focused on strategic research insights, real-world evidence and medical communications for healthcare organisations. Danny is an observational research scientist with extensive cross-functional experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He has a proven track record of...
Brian Adams has been appointed as Kymera Therapeutics’ Chief Legal Officer (CLO) and Corporate Secretary. He will lead Kymera’s legal, governance and intellectual property functions. Kymera is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing a new class of oral small molecule degrader medicines for immunological diseases. Adams has nearly two decades of leadership in the life sciences,...
Patrick Ramiah has been promoted to Director of Clinical Project Delivery & Operational Excellence at Richmond Pharmacology, effective from 1 September 2025. Ramiah joined Richmond in 2023 and has been adept at optimising process performance, fostering continuous improvement culture and embedding operational excellence across the organisation and project delivery teams. Patrick Ramiah commented: “I’m honoured...
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has granted conditional marketing authorisation for Eli Lilly’s pirtobrutinib (Jaypirca). This new therapy is for adults with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) or chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) who have previously received a Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor. The approval is supported by results from two...
