Welcome back to your monthly news roundup, where we take a look back at the top moments to hit the pharma headlines. It’s time to reflect on January 2026
Vaccines under surveillance
The month opened with a reminder that even the most mature pharmaceuticals are never truly “finished”. In early January, the FDA directed several influenza vaccine manufacturers to update their labelling, warning of fever-induced seizures in young children following results from real-world suveillance. The FDA’s Biologics Effectiveness and Safety (BEST) system, which looks at data from millions of insured patients, made the request. Even large phase 3 trials aren’t built to catch side effects that happen this rarely, so this system is the only way to detect meaningful increases in uncommon adverse events.
However, what stands out is not just the warning itself, but the regulatory posture it reflects. Over the past five years, the FDA has increasingly leaned on post-market surveillance to refine benefit–risk profiles, responding to slight myocarditis spikes in adolescent mRNA vaccine recipients and links between Guillain–Barré syndrome certain adenoviral platforms. Together, these moves point to a shift from static labelling toward a “living document” style safety framework.
Reshaping pharma’s global bets
That same logic of scale – this time economic rather than epidemiological – also shaped January’s biggest corportate story. AstraZeneca’s $15bn investment pledge in China, spanning R&D, manufacturing and advanced modalities such as cell therapies and radioconjugates, underscored how the country has moved from “emerging market” to strategic centre of gravity.
China’s appeal is no longer just patient numbers or lower manufacturing costs. Regulatory timelines have shortened, domestic biotech has matured and the country now offers an advanced ecosystem capable of supporting end-to-end drug development. Yet some view the announcement as a warning signal for Western governments. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was quick to frame the expansion as a boost to British jobs, but the longer-term implications could be more complex. When development, manufacturing and increasingly innovation itself cluster elsewhere, national life sciences strategies risk lagging.
Pharma’s toughest problem: AMR
While China has become a magnet for investment and innovation, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains an area where momentum is far harder to sustain. Late January saw the launch of the $60m Gram-Negative Antibiotic Discovery Innovator (Gr-ADI) consortium by the Gates Foundation, Wellcome and the Novo Nordisk Foundation, a collaborative effort designed to revive early-stage antibiotic discovery through open science, shared data and AI.
The initiative reflects the scale of the challenge. National surveillance data from England shows that, in 2024, nearly 400 antibiotic-resistant infections were reported each week, with resistant bloodstream infections rising by more than 9% year-on-year and associated deaths increasing over the same period. Against this backdrop, Gr-ADI represents philanthropy stepping in where market incentives remain weak, with the aim of delivering a pipeline of validated targets industry can afford to advance.
Honourable mention of the month:
A quieter story from last month pointed to a different type of shift: growing numbers of Gen Z adults are turning to AI chatbots for sexual health advice, including informal STI assessment. With STI rates rising across Europe and barriers to testing ever growing, the trend raises questions about how trust, access and early health decisions are evolving in the age of AI.
