More than 75 industry executives and experts gazed into the crystal ball and shared with Scrip their predictions around transformative technologies. Perhaps unsurprisingly, AI was the dominant theme – but gene editing, cell therapies and new targeting modalities were also among the highlights.

The largest shareholder in major Japanese pharma firm Taisho, the founding Uehara family, intends to smooth the way to the restructuring and expansion of the business by acquiring and delisting all of its stock. The nearly $5bn size of the deal would makes it the biggest management buyout in Japanese corporate history.

New supplies of Shionogi's antiviral Xofluza will be used to boost Japan's national stocks of flu therapeutics, along with others including Tamiflu and Relenza, to increase preparedness for new viral strains. While resistance concerns for Xofluza appear to be reducing, local experts supported the decision on condition use is limited to those under 12 years of age.

The US firm has faced yet another clinical setback as its Phase II candidate, NYX-458, failed to improve cognitive impairment in patients with Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s, triggering the cessation of its only other program as priorities shift to preserving funds.