Welcome to the June 2024 issue of Pharmafocus!

This issue includes all the latest pharma news, from AstraZeneca’s $1.5bn investment into a new antibody drug conjugate facility in Singapore (page 4) and GSK sharing positive results from its phase 3 trials for a new asthma treatment (page 6), to the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of Roche’s self-collection screening option for HPV (page 8) and Biogen’s acquisition of Human Immunology Biosciences for $1.15bn (page 12).

Alongside our news section, this issue features some fascinating articles. Johnson & Johnson’s Henar Hevia assesses the progress that has already been made in the treatment of lung cancer since the discovery of EGFR over 20 years ago, and considers the evolving treatment paradigm in this area (page 14). In addition, ICON’s Alan Baldridge and Heather Peterson evaluate the prevalence of paediatric obesity, reflecting on clinical trials for its treatment (page 16).

Finally, as June marks LGBTQ+ Pride month, I look at LGBTQ+ healthcare, assessing barriers to the access of efficient and appropriate healthcare and the issues with LGBTQ+ people’s care within the NHS, as well as evaluating the steps the Government and NHS have taken to combat the disproportionately poor standard of care experienced by many LGBTQ+ people (page 18).

As we finally reach the summer months, I hope that you find time to sit in the sun and enjoy this issue of Pharmafocus. We’ll be back in July with our next issue!