drug development

The 2026 AMR Benchmark reveals a 35 percent contraction in pharmaceutical antibiotic pipelines since 2021, while the WHO publishes new target product profiles for urgently needed drugs against carbapenem-resistant bacteria, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus, and drug-resistant meningitis.

A failed control experiment led Cambridge chemists to discover a metal-free, LED-driven method for modifying drug molecules at positions previously considered unreachable, reversing the selectivity rules established by Friedel and Crafts in 1877.

Petrelintide met its primary endpoint with placebo-like tolerability, but a dose ceiling and a seven-point efficacy gap to Lilly's eloralintide raise questions about its standalone future.