Life sciences
Why the UK is becoming one of the world's most important models for transforming discovery into real-world health impact. Today's reports of discussions between AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb are about more than a potential transaction. Whether or not those conversations lead to a deal, they reinforce a broader reality: the United Kingdom (UK) has [...]
The UK's world-leading medical research is not yet delivering better health outcomes for enough patients, a new report has warned. The UK’s life sciences industry generated £146.9bn in turnover in 2023/24, but healthy life expectancy has fallen to its lowest recorded level. The warning centres on the doctors and experts needed to turn university discoveries [...]
The UK life sciences sector attracted more than £3bn in public-private investment over 12 months, according to a government update. The government said communities across the country were benefiting from new treatments and scientific advances supported by its Life Sciences Sector Plan. During its first year, the plan helped attract the investment, bring forward new [...]
By Emmanuelle Trombe, co-head of McDermott Will & Schulte's Life Sciences industry practice The life sciences and healthcare sector is entering a new phase marked by both increased complexity and significant opportunity. While it remains one of the most resilient and value-generating industries globally, the conditions underpinning that success are evolving. Recent discussions, including those [...]
In this episode of the Health Tech World Podcast, host Gordon speaks with Kathleen van Vlierberghe, Vice President for EMEA Peripheral Intervention at Boston Scientific, about how kidney cancer care in the UK is evolving. Together, they explore the impact of the first-ever NICE kidney cancer guidelines, why minimally invasive treatments like cryoablation remain underused [...]
An £11m digital twins centre will model organs and disease to speed drug discovery and help target medicines more precisely. The Modelling-Informed Medicine Centre, or MiMeC, will build computer models of organs and diseases to better understand how diseases of the lungs, liver and kidneys progress. Digital twins are virtual versions of organs that let [...]
A new daily pill could offer a more effective oral GLP-1 option for weight loss, according to a clinical trial that may open the door to an improved non-injection alternative to Wegovy and Mounjaro. The drug, orforglipron, manufactured by Eli Lilly and prescribed for type 2 diabetes, targets the same GLP-1 receptors as oral semaglutide. [...]
Illumina has completed its acquisition of proteomics company SomaLogic, expanding its multiomics portfolio. Proteomics is the large-scale study of proteins and how they function in the body. Analysing proteins in biological samples can reveal disease processes that genomics, the study of DNA, may not show on its own. Multiomics combines several biological approaches, such as [...]
Canadian life insurer and asset manager Manulife has boosted its presence in the healthy ageing sector with the launch of a CA$350m Longevity Institute. Valued at US$60bn, Manulife has been active in the longevity space for some time and says the new institute will see it fund ‘innovative research, and key industry collaborations’. Manulife’s chief [...]
Scotland has set out a life sciences strategy aimed at growing the sector to £25bn by 2035. The Scottish Government’s refreshed Life Sciences Strategy focuses on infrastructure and skills, and brings in technologies such as artificial intelligence. An initial £1m will support delivery. Business minister Richard Lochhead, who launched the strategy at Dundee [...]
