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Novartis is to pay up to $1.7 billion to buy Regulus Therapeutics Inc of San Diego, US, in a deal that will strengthen its portfolio of treatments for kidney disease. The deal also puts a spotlight on microRNA, a drug target that affects gene expression without coding for a protein. Regulus has an early clinical stage product for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, a serious genetic disorder that can lead to end-stage renal disease. The product, farabursen, is an oligonucleotide designed to inhibit a microRNA known as miR-17.

The European Commission has disclosed a list of potential countermeasures against tariffs imposed by the US should trade negotiations between the two parties fail to reach a mutually beneficial outcome. The measures were submitted to companies and other stakeholders for review on 8 May.

Scientific research across all sectors in the EU will receive more financial support under a plan announced on 5 May by Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. Speaking at an event at the Sorbonne University in Paris, President von der Leyen outlined four new policies to support research. The first is €500 million in new research funding covering the period from 2025 to 2027. Under this programme, it will be possible for researchers to apply for a new ‘super grant’ giving them seven years of financial support.

GSK Plc expects that turnover will increase by 3 to 5% at constant exchange rates this year, in line with the group’s performance in the first quarter. A more robust increase of 6 to 8% is expected for core operating profit following measures by the company to improve efficiency. The core operating figure excludes the amortisation and impairement of intangible assets.

AstraZeneca Plc expects revenue for the year to increase by a high single-digit percentage following a first quarter in which the figure reached $13.588 billion. This represented an increase of 7% on a reported basis, and 10% at constant exchange rates from the previous year. Core earnings per share are expected to rise by a low double-digit percentage, after increasing by 21% in the first three months. The core measure excludes amortisation and impairment charges for intangible assets.

Blenrep (belantamab mafodotine), an antibody-drug conjugate given speedy approvals in both  the US and the EU in 2020, and later withdrawn for insufficient efficacy, has won approval for a new market entry in the UK on the basis of two combination studies. The drug was developed by GSK Plc to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, the third most common blood cancer globally.

The Alzheimer’s disease drug, Leqembi (lecanemab), has been approved by the European Commission following extra reviews of the product’s safety. The decision was announced on 16 April by the product’s co-developer BioArctic AB which will make the drug available to adults with a clinical diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. The patient group is specifically identified as people who have only one, or no copy, of the ApoE4 gene, a risk factor for the disease. 

A vaccine designed to prevent disease caused by the chikungunya virus, a mosquito-borne virus, has been approved in Brazil, an endemic country. Developed by Valneva SE of France, the vaccine IXCHIQ, is intended for individuals 18 years and older. Chikungunya disease, which causes muscle pain and joint swelling, has occurred in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and islands in the Indian and Pacific oceans. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is a risk that the virus could spread to unaffected areas by travellers.

Five medicinal products, each with multiple indications, have been assessed by scientific experts who are supporting the African Medicines Agency, a prospective regulatory authority for countries in the African Union. The medicines are all vaccines, some of which are indicated for cancers, and others for infectious diseases. The products are generic versions of well-established drugs, including bavencio, gardasil and pembrolizumab, and protect against diseases ranging from diphtheria and tetanus to non-small cell lung and colorectal cancers. 

The European Commission has outlined a strategy for building capacity in artificial intelligence across the 27-nation union alongside the first grants to execute it. Announced on 9 April, the strategy envisions the construction of new AI data centres and laboratories, the use of new algorithms, and the recruitment of skilled labour.