Welcome to the December issue of The Pharmafile Brief, where we bring you the latest developments and conversations shaping healthcare, life sciences and pharma.
This month, as part of our Gateway to Local Adoption series, Visions4Health spoke to Julian Wenman, senior operations manager in oncology and haematology at the University Hospitals Tees (Group) Cancer Institute.
His article looks at the NHS 10-Year Health Plan’s ambition to shift care from hospitals to communities.Wenman writes that, while many treatments should be moved closer to home, effective pathways and partnerships have to be put in place first. Key initiatives include identifying which services are safe and effective enough to warrant community-based care, and forging creative, place-based partnerships that rethink where and how treatment happens.
Julian Wenman
Women’s bone health is another key topic, with Tina Backhouse writing about osteoporosis and the importance of universal Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) access. Backhouse notes that women bear the overwhelming burden of osteoporosis in the UK, suffering far more life-altering and life-limiting fractures than men. She writes about the steps the NHS and government could take in making FLS accessible to all, ensuring that over-50s with fragility fracture are assessed and, if necessary, treated for osteoporosis.
Tina Backhouse
We report on a men’s health study from the UK Department of Health and Social Care that found that almost half of men thought mental health support needed to be a priority, with flagged issues including timely mental health care and suicide prevention. This links up with a story in our news round-up about how brain stimulation could help patients struggling to access mental health support.
Another key topic in this issue is the importance of safeguarding employee health and well-being. The article looks at the value of occupational health services, highlighting the CIPD’s 2025 Health and Wellbeing at Work report showing that, in 2024, employees took off an average of 9.4 days compared with 5.8 before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 – and an increase on the 7.8 days reported in 2023.
There were also several important industry appointments this month: ViVac Pharmaappointed Keren Leshem as CEO; Ardena appointed Dipesh Patel as Chief Quality Officer and Peter Rose as Chief Information Officer, and Richmond Pharmacology appointed Dr Edward Jackson as Medical Director.
We hope you enjoy reading this issue of The Pharmafile Brief – look out for our next issue in January!
With workplace sickness absence levels stuck at record levels, employers need to step-change how they think about and manage employee ill health. Importantly, they need to recognise that the value of occupational health (OH) services goes beyond simply supporting employees who are unwell. Earlier this year, the president of the Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM)...
The UK Department of Health and Social Care has published a new report entitled Men’s health: a strategic vision for England, offering an informative picture of how men in England experience health and healthcare. The report is based on 6,591 responses that were gathered over 12 weeks in April 2025. Analysis of the responses showed...
By Tina Backhouse In 2024, the UK government committed to achieving 100% coverage of Fracture Liaison Services (FLS)across the NHS in England.1 This is more than just a policy pledge; it’s a potentially transformative milestone in how we address osteoporosis and its devastating consequences. But turning that ambition into reality will require coordinated action, sustained...
1 Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial agents such as antibiotics.1 Around 35,000 deaths in the EU and European Economic Area are caused by AMR every year,2 and antibiotic-resistant infections in the UK recently surpassed pre-pandemic levels.3 2 Over 40% of E. coli bacteria worldwide are now resistant...
Biopharmaceutical company Accession Therapeutics has announced the dosing of the first patient in the phase 1 clinical trial of TROCEPT-01 (ATTR-01), its new solid tumour treatment. The treatment utilises Accession’s proprietary TROCEPT platform to deliver a genetically encoded immune checkpoint inhibitor (anti-PD-L1) directly to tumour cells. This enables the cancer cells themselves to secrete therapeutic...
Early-stage biotechnology company ViVac Pharma has appointed Keren Leshem as its new CEO. Leshem brings almost 30 years of experience leading medical technology and life science companies, previously serving as director of Aspivix, Rambam MedTech and Ark Surgical. Chezy Barenholz, head of ViVac’s Membrane & Liposome Lab, said: “Keren's leadership, coupled with this exceptional team...
In the final Gateway to Local Adoption article of 2025, Visions4Health caught up with Julian Wenman, senior operations manager in oncology and haematology at the University Hospitals Tees (Group) Cancer Institute, to discuss how it’s possible to realise the NHS 10-Year Health Plan’s major ambition to shift care from hospitals into the heart of communities....
A new study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders has found that home-based, transcranial, direct current stimulation (tDCS) therapy, combined with online behavioural support, prevented relapse in 75% of patients with major depressive disorder. The PSYLECT study, led by the University of São Paulo Medical School, was conducted in collaboration with Ludwig-Maximilians University of...
Novartis has announced that its treatment for early breast cancer, Kisqali (ribociclib), has received approval for use within NHS Scotland from the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC). The recommendation allows Kisqali to be prescribed as an adjuvant therapy in combination with an aromatase inhibitor (AI) for eligible patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) and human epidermal growth...
Richmond Pharmacology, a contract research organisation (CRO) specialising in first-in-human and adaptive clinical trials, has appointed Dr Edward Jackson as Medical Director. Chief Medical Director, Dr Ulrike Lorch, said: "We’re very pleased to welcome Dr Edward Jackson back to Richmond. His experience in early-phase research and translational science will strengthen our clinical programmes, particularly in...
Vesper Bio, a clinical-stage biotech developing novel oral therapies for neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders, has reported positive topline data from its phase 1b/2a clinical trial evaluating its lead candidate, VES001, in patients with frontotemporal degeneration (FTD). FTD – also known as frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) – encompasses a group of brain disorders characterised by progressive...
Ardena, a specialist pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) and bioanalytical contract research organisation (CRO) focusing on precision medicines, has appointed Dipesh Patel as Chief Quality Officer (CQO) and Peter Rose as Chief Information Officer (CIO). Patel joins Ardena from Accord Healthcare, where he served as Senior Vice President of Quality. He previously held...
