The UK joined Project Orbis in 2021 with the aim of speeding up the regulatory process for promising cancer drugs, but fewer than half of the drugs licensed under this pathway are available on the NHS in England.

European countries should establish “implementation budgets” to fund innovative cancer therapies and leverage technologies such as AI in drug R&D to meet the rising demand for cancer care, pharmaceutical industry representatives say.

Arrowhead is expecting a flurry of early-stage results from its in-house pipeline, including in lung diseases, where gene silencing platforms have so far struggled to reach, as it banks two recent milestone payments.

Amgen has signed two big early-stage deals in a matter of days, signalling that antibody-drug conjugates are a priority target in oncology for the firm.