Choice of vaccine critic knocks some of world’s biggest drugmakers including Moderna, AstraZeneca and GSK Who is RFK Jr and what are his likely top priorities? Business live – latest updates Investors in pharmaceutical companies are selling off stock after Donald Trump nominated the anti-vaccine activist Robert F Kennedy Jr to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services. RFK Jr has embraced numerous health-related conspiracy theories, and is one of the most persistent and influential vaccine deniers in the US ..read more

Profits beat forecasts but a 17% fall in share price since executives were detained by Beijing may be hard to shake In the world of two weeks ago, AstraZeneca’s share price probably would have enjoyed a strong day on the release of Tuesday’s third-quarter numbers. The profit figure beat forecasts and the UK pharmaceutical company raised its guidance for growth in full-year revenues and earnings from “mid-teens” to “high teens”. Meanwhile, Pascal Soriot, the chief executive, unveiled a $3.5bn (£2.7bn) investment programme in the US and talked bullishly about prospects in AstraZeneca’s biggest m ..read more

UK’s biggest pharmaceutical company ‘committed to China’ as it raises 2024 profit forecast and announces $3.5bn US investment Business live – latest updates AstraZeneca’s chief executive has said it is taking investigations by Chinese authorities into its business in the country “very seriously” and insisted it is committed to China in the long run. Authorities are thought to be investigating the importation of two cancer treatments manufactured by Britain’s biggest pharmaceutical company into China ..read more

Experts say once-a-day varenicline tablet reduces nicotine cravings and side-effects from cutting out tobacco Hundreds of thousands of smokers will be given a pill that increases people’s chances of quitting, in a move that NHS bosses believe will save thousands of lives. About 85,000 people a year in England will be offered the chance to use varenicline, a once-a-day tablet that experts say is as effective as vapes at helping people to kick the habit ..read more

As UK diagnoses have doubled, prescriptions of the treatment have halved. While experts feud over its use, many patients feel it is an effective way of managing their condition Occupational stress is a trigger for Rebecca Wilde, a 32-year-old tech worker in Buckinghamshire. Four years ago, work pressures combined with family issues affected her sleep, leading to a severe manic episode. She was hospitalised for a month and a half, and diagnosed with type 1 bipolar disorder, also known as bipolar 1, a mood condition that can have devastating consequences if not managed well. Mania, and sometimes ..read more

Helen Giza of FME is excited about the possibilities new drugs such as Ozempic could offer for renal patients New popular weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic come with an additional benefit: they could prolong the life of people with chronic kidney disease, says Helen Giza. For Giza, who runs the world’s largest dialysis and renal services company, Fresenius Medical Care (FME), and for the patients it serves, the new breed of weight-loss jabs promises to be transformational ..read more

Pharmaceutical’s weight loss pill described as ‘underwhelming’, also piling pressure on share price AstraZeneca shares tumbled on Tuesday wiping £14bn off the value of Britain’s biggest drug maker, after a report that dozens of senior executives at its China unit could be implicated in an insurance fraud case in the country’s pharmaceutical sector. Also putting pressure on the share price, early data on AstraZeneca’s experimental weight loss pill published on Monday was described as “somewhat underwhelming” by analysts at Deutsche Bank, who reiterated their “sell” rating on the stock ..read more

Prof Kelly Chibale says the world is failing to take advantage of African genetic diversity, and everyone could be losing out Africa has the greatest variety in human genes anywhere on the planet but the world is failing to capitalise on it, according one of the continent’s leading scientists, Prof Kelly Chibale, a man determined to change that. He believes the birthplace of humanity could hold the scientific key to its future. About 18% of the global population lives in Africa – a proportion set to rise over the next few decades – and it accounts for 20% of the global disease burden. But only ..read more

Biotech giant’s alleged comments come as world leaders at Cop16 discuss how to share benefits from genetic code discoveries fairly AstraZeneca has said it may cut jobs at its UK operation if the government enforces a global push to make companies share profits derived from nature’s genetic codes, multiple sources have told the Guardian. The alleged comments from the company came amid a concerted lobbying push by the pharmaceutical industry against the profit-sharing measures ..read more

‘Surprising’ finding by Australian-led study is first recorded instance of one antibiotic causing resistance to another in a different class The rise of an almost untreatable superbug has been linked to a common antibiotic, an Australian-led study has found. The study – published in Nature – found that rifaximin, an antibiotic used to treat liver disease, causes resistance to another antibiotic, daptomycin ..read more