Pharmaphorum

Roche’s Genentech has agreed a deal worth up to $2.3 billion to develop and sell Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s experimental obesity drug HM17321, as the US-based drugmaker looks to explore treatments that can preserve muscle alongside weight loss. Genentech will pay Hanmi $190 million upfront under the agreement, which covers development, manufacturing, and commercialisation of HM17321 worldwide, except South Korea. Hanmi will also be eligible for further payments, as well as royalties on sales.

Boardrooms and Advisory Groups were just as active as executive suites over June and July, with biotech, medtech, diagnostics, digital health, and non-profit organisations bringing in experienced chairs, directors, and scientific advisors to help guide strategy, governance, and growth. The appointments brought together veterans from across the pharmaceutical industry, venture capital, healthcare technology, and academia. Oryn Therapeutics expands board leadership.

Acadia Pharmaceuticals has secured European Commission approval for DAYBU (trofinetide), opening the door to the first treatment authorised for the neurobehavioural symptoms of Rett syndrome in the European Union (EU). The decision covers adults and children aged five and older across all 27 EU member states, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.

GSK has announced that Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has approved Hibsago (bepirovirsen), an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO), as a functional cure in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) virus infection in adult patients who have received at least six months of prior nucleos(t)ide analogue therapy and meet pre-defined viral markers. CHB is a major public health challenge and a leading cause of liver cancer globally.

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) describes schizophrenia as “a serious mental illness that affects how a person thinks, feels and behaves.” At times, the nature of schizophrenia may even disrupt a person’s sense of reality. Those moments can be frightening and disorienting, not only for the person experiencing them, but also for loved ones trying to help. I know that feeling from personal experience.

Eli Lilly has announced that orforglipron (Foundayo), its oral glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, is now available to be prescribed for eligible adults via private prescription following its approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on Monday 10th August 2026. Lilly is working with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on the assessment of orforglipron for potential use on the NHS in England.

News Johnson & Johnson has secured another approval for its multiple myeloma drug Tecvayli (teclistamab), with the European Commission granting approval for the drug in combination with Darzalex (daratumumab) for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. The drug previously had a conditional approval in the EU in 2022, but only for patients who had tried three other lines of therapy. This approval makes the drug available as a second-line therapy.

Eric Schadt, a serial entrepreneur and expert in computational biology, is leaving his post as chief scientist at Pathos AI to start a new, stealthy venture - and signing on as Pfizer's first AI Scholar in the process.

AC Immune SA, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases, has announced positive interim results from a Phase 1 study of ACI-19764 – its wholly-owned NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitor targeting chronic inflammation across inflammatory, metabolic, and neurological diseases. ACI-19764 is an orally available, brain penetrant, small molecule drug candidate that specifically inhibits the NLRP3 inflammasome.

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