A roundup of the biggest UK pharma news, including the industry’s uncertain position after the UK-US trade accord; Haleon’s full takeover of its Chinese joint venture; AstraZeneca’s acquisition of Belgian biotech EsoBiotec and its exit from neuroscience; GSK’s liver disease asset deal with Boston Pharmaceuticals, and CellCentric’s US expansion.

 

England’s drug approval body resists pharma pressure to loosen processes (Financial Times)

England’s drug approval body has resisted pressure from pharmaceutical companies to loosen its process for recommending drugs and is pressing instead for the NHS to speed up the rollout of approved medicines.

Ministers have been putting pressure on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) to show how it is increasing productivity and contributing to economic growth, at a time when pharmaceutical groups are railing against recent high-profile rejections of new medicines.

 

Pharma still in waiting mode after UK-US trade agreement (Pharmaphorum)

While the UK is the first country to announce a deal with the US since Donald Trump announced his tariffs in April, it has fallen short of the “full and comprehensive” agreement billed by the President ahead of its unveiling.

Pharma was not mentioned at all as Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled the ‘agreement in principle’, as it was described by the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR). It focused mainly on the car industry, which saw US tariffs fall from 27.5% to a blanket levy of 10%, while those on steel and aluminium fell to zero.

 

UK’s Haleon takes full control of Chinese consumer healthcare venture (Reuters)

British consumer healthcare group Haleon on Tuesday said it gained full control of its Chinese joint venture after acquiring Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang’s 12% stake for about 1.62 billion yuan ($221.4 million).
The joint venture, Tianjin TSKF Pharmaceutical Co (TSKF), was founded in 1984 and manufactures and distributes over-the-counter products under Haleon’s brands in China, such as burn ointment Fenbid and topical antibiotic Bactroban.

 

AstraZeneca agrees £750m deal for EsoBiotec (Business Cloud)

AstraZeneca has agreed a deal to acquire EsoBiotec for up to £750m. The acquisition includes the Belgian firm’s in vivo delivery platform, which the Cambridge pharma giant said has the potential to transform cell therapy.

The EsoBiotec Engineered NanoBody Lentiviral (ENaBL) platform empowers the immune system to attack cancers and could offer many more patients access to transformative cell therapy treatments delivered in just minutes rather than the current process, which takes weeks.

 

AstraZeneca quietly exits neuroscience (Biopharma Dive)

AstraZeneca on Tuesday confirmed it has closed down its neuroscience research group to direct resources toward more “high value” projects.

On an earnings call with investors, Sharon Barr, AstraZeneca’s head of biopharmaceuticals research and development, explained that the decision allows the U.K.-based pharmaceutical giant to devote more attention to its “core therapeutic areas.” Of the nearly $51 billion in product sales AstraZeneca recorded last year, the majority came from medicines for cancer, cardiovascular illnesses and respiratory diseases.

 

AstraZeneca ‘committed’ to US manufacturing as profits rise (Financial Times)

Strong sales of cancer drugs and biopharmaceuticals helped push up revenues at AstraZeneca by 10 per cent in the first quarter, as the drugmaker said it would deepen its manufacturing presence in the US. The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical group on Tuesday reported revenue of $13.6bn in the first three months of the year, up 10 per cent year on year in constant currencies, and declared it was “firmly committed to investing and growing in the US” as the sector braces for the fallout of Donald Trump’s trade war.

The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical group on Tuesday reported revenue of $13.6bn in the first three months of the year, up 10 per cent year on year in constant currencies, and declared it was “firmly committed to investing and growing in the US” as the sector braces for the fallout of Donald Trump’s trade war.

 

GSK pays $1.2B upfront for Boston Pharmaceuticals’ lead liver disease drug (Fierce Biotech)

GSK has already moved on from its decision to drop a cancer asset on Tuesday by snagging a late-stage liver disease candidate for a hefty $1.2 billion upfront.

That drug in question is efimosfermin, Boston Pharmaceuticals’ lead asset. The asset has already passed midstage tests and is now a phase 3-ready therapy to help stop the progression of steatotic liver disease (SLD), a condition where fat builds up in the liver. If left untreated, this can lead to increasing levels of liver damage through scarring and cirrhosis.

 

GSK, partner iTeos scrap development of lung cancer therapy (Reuters)

Britain’s GSK and drug developer iTeos Therapeutics said on Tuesday they have stopped developing an experimental lung cancer drug, belrestotug, after it failed to stop the disease from progressing in two studies.
The discontinued drug belongs to a class of treatments focused on the TIGIT receptor that has fallen out of favor in recent years after a spate of clinical setbacks due to low efficacy.

British biotech CellCentric expands to Boston with plans to grow into late-stage clinical development (Fierce Biotech)

British biotech CellCentric is settling into a new office in Boston, part of the company’s expansion into the U.S. as multiple myeloma asset inobrodib progresses to late-stage clinical development.

“​Boston’s status as a global hub for biotechnology and pharmaceutical innovation makes it the ideal location to further advance inobrodib’s development,” CellCentric Chief Development Officer Andy Fergus said in an April 2 release. The second office will be a “key additional hub for our international operations as we convene expertise from across the globe to address an unmet need in the multiple myeloma community.”