News

US-based MapLight Therapeutics Inc has raised $372.5 million in a Series D financing to advance its portfolio of drugs for central nervous system disorders. Announced on 28 July, the deal was co-led by Forbion and Life Sciences at Goldman Sachs Alternatives and stands out as one of the larger private financings of the year. It will support ongoing Phase 2 clinical trials in schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease psychosis, a condition that is estimated to affect 40% of people with the disease.

GSK Plc has confirmed its sales target of £40 billion for 2031 following a second quarter of higher turnover for its specialty medicines and vaccines. The forecast is based on the sales trajectory of recently launched products as well as new ones poised for market entry. For 2025 the company expects sales to increase towards the top end of a 3% to 5% range. 

Abivax SA has secured new financing of up to $747.5 million from a public offering of American Depositary Shares (ADSs) in the wake of two successful Phase 3 trial results for a small molecule drug for ulcerative colitis. Both trials achieved clinical remissions for a significant number of patients. The offering was initially announced on 23 July with the intention of raising $400 million. But after the trial results were reported, the company’s shares experienced a five-fold increase in value.

The Roche Group continued to face generic competition for its legacy cancer medicines in the first half of 2025, but this was overtaken by double-digit sales increases for some of its newest products and regulatory approvals for several others. At the same time, the disease coverage of the company’s portfolio broadened. Group sales in the first half were CHF 30.9 billion ($33.11 billion), up by 4% in Swiss francs and by 7% in constant exchange rates. The pharmaceuticals division, which accounts for 78% of group sales, generated CHF 24 billion while diagnostics produced CHF 7 billion.

Abivax SA reported a pooled clinical remission rate of 16.4% in two Phase 3 trials of its small molecule drug, obefazimod, for ulcerative colitis on 22 July, in one of the largest clinical development programmes for the disease ever conducted, The trials were eight-week induction studies and are being followed up by a maintenance trial which, if positive, will lead to a regulatory filing. Top-line results from the maintenance trial are expected in the second quarter of 2026, the company said. 

Sanofi SA is to expand its portfolio of vaccines to prevent respiratory infections with the acquisition of a UK company pioneering an approach called ‘molecular clamp’ technology. This describes a method for stabilising viral proteins in their native shape, reportedly enabling the immune system to recognise and respond to infections better. Announced on 22 July, the acquisition of UK based Vicebio Ltd expands Sanofi’s portfolio by adding a new modality for targeting respiratory diseases.

Novartis plans to buy back up to $10 billion worth of its shares by the end of 2027 following a robust second quarter and expectations for a higher core operating profit this year. Vas Narasimhan, the chief executive, highlighted the buyback in a presentation on 17 July alongside news of double-digit sales increases for key products and progress in the company’s clinical pipeline. The buy-back, which will reward investors, comes on the heels of a recently completed $15 billion share repurchase that started in 2023 and ended on 1 July.

Sarepta Therapeutics Inc, developer of the gene therapy Elevidys (delandistrogene moxeparvovec) for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, faced a further setback on 18 July after  the US Food and Drug Administration was reportedly poised to stop all shipments of the therapy. This followed the deaths of three patients with the disease. Two of the deaths were reported early in the year and involved young people. The third, disclosed on 18 July, involved a 51-year-old man, according to the Bloomberg news service.

Two Norwegian oncology companies announced a merger on 30 June that will generate cash for drug development and advance a joint portfolio of radiopharmaceuticals. The companies are BerGenBio ASA and Oncoinvent ASA. The merger follows BerGenBio’s decision to discontinue its lead cancer product, bemcentinib, and join forces with Oncoinvent to continue Norway’s innovation in radiopharmaceuticals.

US-based Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc has strengthened its financial position with a public share offering that is expected to raise $25 million. Announced on 3 July, the proceeds will advance an early clinical pipeline of medicines directed against human papillomavirus-related diseases, cancer, and infectious diseases.