US pharma giant Merck snaps up London lung specialist Verona Pharma for £7.5bn
In just the latest foreign takeover of a British company, Verona Pharma has been bought by US drugs giant Merck, which is looking to strengthen its respiratory treatments as part of efforts to reduce dependence on its blockbuster cancer treatment.
Keytruda, the world's top-selling drug with more than £20billion in revenue last year, is nearing key patent expirations from 2028, and Merck has doubled down on efforts to reshape its portfolio.
The acquisition is Merck's first of the year and its largest since its £8billion buyout of Prometheus Biosciences in 2023. The deal gives it control of Ohtuvayre, which is Verona's newly approved treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – more commonly called 'smoker's lung'.
The inhaled drug generated sales of £30million in 2024 and analysts have estimated that its sales could exceed £2billion in annual revenue.
Verona was set up in 2005 and is based in London but is listed in New York. Yesterday, the shares soared 20.7 per cent to $104.80.
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Medical News Today
6 minutes ago
- Medical News Today
Why do some people have better weight loss results with Ozempic or Wegovy?
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The results suggest that factors like taking GLP-1RAs longer, having greater accumulated exposure to GLP-1RAs, using semaglutide, and not having diabetes may make it more likely for some people to experience successful weight loss from GLP-1RA impacts the effectiveness of GLP-1RAs?This research involved a total of 679 participants and was a retrospective cohort study. All participants were overweight or obese, and this was determined by body mass index (BMI). Some participants also had type 2 diabetes. All participants had at least three months' worth of follow-up and at least three noted weight measurements during the had data from participants' follow-up visits, including factors like body composition and measurements of liver and kidney function. Their data looked at treatment with seven different GLP-1RAs, including semaglutide, lixisenatide, and examined weight fluctuation among participants and divided participants into three groups: successfully losing weight, staying the same weight, or regaining weight. In their analyses, they then further classified participants as having successful or unsuccessful weight reduction. The unsuccessful category included both weight regain and staying the same did their analyses at three months, six months, and then at one year. The average age of participants was thirty-seven years old, and about 21% of participants had who had been on GLP-1RAs for longer were more likely to experience successful weight reduction at six and twelve months. At the three and six-month marks, participants who experienced successful weight reduction were also less likely to have diabetes and more likely to start their treatment on the three-month follow-up, participants in the weight regain group also had higher estimated glomerular filtration rates, which measures kidney function. This was also true when looking at just participants with prediabetes. The authors note that people with obesity can experience these higher filtration rates, which can then lead to worse kidney also observed that the group that remained stable had higher fasting plasma glucose levels than the other groups and worse beta cell function and insulin resistance than participants who successfully lost do some people lose more weight on GLP-1s?In their univariate logistic regression analysis, the researchers identified several factors that may be related to successful weight loss. These included longer time on GLP-1RA treatment, semaglutide use, lower blood sugar levels, and a higher percentage of body fat. They also observed that greater Homeostasis Model Assessment of β-Cell Function levels, which helps to measure beta cell function in the pancreas and insulin resistance, was associated with successful declines in weight. For women, having a lower skeletal muscle mass was also associated with successful weight adjusting for age, sex, and BMI, the researchers found that the longer people used GLP-1RAs, the more they lost weight successfully at all the follow-up time points. At three and six months, starting semaglutide, compared to other GLP-1RAs, was linked to successful weight men, having a body fat percentage greater than 30% was associated with successful weight reduction at three months, but this was not the case for women. 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Paunel Vukasinov, MD, a dual board-certified Internist and Obesity Medicine Specialist with Medical Offices of Manhattan and contributor to who was not involved in the research, noted the following to Medical News Today:'This study offers helpful information about the differences in weight loss results for patients treated with GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs). Clinical trials have shown that GLP-1RAs work well, but this study points out the varied responses in everyday clinical settings. It also tries to find the reasons behind this variability.''However, the lack of randomization, possible confounding factors, and the single-center design do weaken the conclusions. Still, it addresses an important clinical question: why do some patients do well on GLP-1RAs while others stop losing weight or regain it? It encourages us to move toward more personalized obesity care.'— Paunel Vukasinov, MDThis study was conducted among Chinese participants receiving treatment at a single weight loss clinic. Data from other countries may be helpful in future note that only 112 participants had a follow-up assessment at the one-year mark. They also note there was a lack of record for some possible confounding factors and that they weren't able to assess how lifestyle interventions throughout the follow-up could have affected outcomes. Another limiting factor was that 'longitudinal data for body composition was not systematically collected and analyzed at the follow-ups.'Does stopping medication affect results?Treatment discontinuation did happen, which meant differences in medication looking specifically at the use of semaglutide and liraglutide in the subgroup analyses, researchers only analyzed the data from the three-month and six-month follow-ups. 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The Government should be encouraging Britain's philanthropists
We're in the final week of Wimbledon and midway through the Lord's Test Match, but another event with less fanfare but great significance took place in London this week. The Giving and Impact Summit was held at the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday with the aim of promoting, celebrating and inspiring philanthropy in the UK. Speakers included leading donors such as John Caudwell, Fran Perrin and John Studzinski, as well as Government Minister Stephanie Peacock. As part of the Summit, Dragons' Den star Deborah Meaden and TV personality Robert Rinder 'closed' the market, bringing trading on the London market to an end on a day celebrating philanthropy in the UK. The Summit provides an opportune moment to reflect on the state of giving in the UK and what more we can do to enhance it. The UK is a very generous nation, with over £15 billion given to charity last year. Large-scale public campaigns such as those run by Comic Relief and Children in Need engage a broad section of the public. At the higher end, there are fantastic 'big givers'; the philanthropists who topped this year's Giving List compiled by CAF and published in May, Suneil Setiya and Greg Skinner (founders of Quadrature Capital) gave away a staggering £134.9 million each last year. The UK has a fantastic history of charitable giving. As the UK and the rest of Europe recovered from the Black Death (1347-1450), the volume of charity increased. In London the resources devoted to charity increased 50 per cent in real terms between 1573 and 1597. Philanthropists started looking for solutions to social problems, whether social housing, education or help to start businesses. One of the leading lights was Dick Whittington (c. 1354–1423), a four-time Lord Mayor of London, who used his fortune to fund a wide range of charitable and civic projects. He financed the rebuilding of the Guildhall, improvements to drainage systems in poor areas and helped to establish almshouses. Several hundred years later, the Victorian era saw the emergence of socially conscious businesses. The likes of Unilever provided housing to their workers and placed a premium on looking after them. Present day Britain boasts some extremely generous philanthropists. This is a mixture of 'old money' and 'new wealth' from sectors such as property and finance. Still, large charities are reliant on the same pool of donors. Well-established multi-generational families, such as the Westons, Woolfsons, Duffields and Rothschilds, still carry too much of the burden supporting many charities. At the same time, a disappointingly low proportion of the super-wealthy and high earners engage meaningfully in philanthropy. In new research published for the Summit, Pro Bono Economics found that between 2020-22 most donors among the UK's top 1 per cent of earners made relatively small charitable donations of only around 0.2 per cent of their gross income or £52 a month. 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Simplifying the claiming process and better promoting these incentives could unlock significant additional charitable funding while reducing administrative burden for donors and charities alike. Third, wealth advisers serve as crucial gatekeepers to substantial philanthropic potential, yet philanthropy advice remains inconsistent and fragmented across the sector. The wealth management industry should systematically equip advisers with the knowledge and tools to effectively discuss philanthropic opportunities with their clients. Finally, the UK needs a cultural shift in how it regards philanthropy. While American philanthropists are celebrated as social heroes, their British counterparts often face scepticism or criticism. Creating a more positive narrative around philanthropic leadership would encourage greater giving and recognise the vital role philanthropy plays in addressing social challenges. Despite recent changes to the tax system, the UK remains an attractive destination for many international investors and philanthropists. The Trump administration's changes in the US, and its cuts in funding for the aid sector, may persuade some US philanthropists to seek a new base for their operations, and the UK is well positioned to benefit. After a year in office, Keir Starmer's Government remains committed to its five missions, encompassing the economy, energy, the NHS, crime and opportunity for all. All of these areas could be enhanced by philanthropists working alongside the public and private sectors to improve the lives of all citizens. Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair once spoke of heralding a 'giving age.' With the right moves, the Government can strengthen philanthropy in the UK and help deliver on its missions.
