More than 100 biopharma executives and experts told Scrip their predictions for therapeutic area advances in the coming year. The recent commercial success of GLP-1s in diabetes and obesity and their potential in further disease areas fuelled excitement around the metabolic space. Expectations were also positive in neurology following the launch of Leqembi for Alzheimer’s disease in 2023, while the multiple opportunities to improve cancer treatment kept oncology top of the pile overall.

California biotech also notes prior licensing deal with Gilead for mitochondrial candidate. Twentyeight-Seven acquires RNA-splicing cancer candidate from Basilea.

It takes a lot of negotiation with regulators, advisory boards, and alignment between commercial and portfolio management teams to define and agree a clinical trial protocol. Why on earth would companies change it once a study is underway?

The current coronavirus vaccines focus on the spike protein but the UK's Scancell believes it has a candidate that also targets the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein which could help tackle existing and future variants.