Month in pharma news, explained – July

Welcome back to your monthly news roundup, where we look back at the biggest stories to hit the pharma headlines. It’s time to reflect on July 2026

China’s biotech boom

China’s biotech sector is rapidly becoming the pharmaceutical industry’s preferred hunting ground. AstraZeneca led the trend this month, striking a $200m licensing deal for a COPD programme from Chia Tai Tianqing before returning days later with a $1.5bn agreement for Dizal’s lung cancer drug.

The numbers suggest this is no one-off. PharmCube data finds Chinese biotechs completed 157 outbound licensing deals with global partners in 2025, up from 94 the year before. From the other side of the table, IQVIA estimates that 40% of all assets licensed by pharma in 2025 originated in China.

The momentum has continued into 2026. Chinese assets had already reached $92bn in licensing deals in the first half of the year, almost matching the total for the whole of 2025, according to IQVIA. Lower development costs, faster proof-of-concept studies and regulatory reforms are all helping to cement China as one of pharma’s fastest-growing innovation hubs.

Oral GLP-1s arrive

Needle-free weight loss arrived in the UK this July as Novo Nordisk’s oral semaglutide tablet became available following MHRA approval. While NHS access still depends on a positive NICE appraisal, the launch reflects a broader push to make obesity medicines easier to take and more widely accessible.

Appetite in the US, where the tablet launched in January, suggests demand could be strong. According to Novo Nordisk, more than 3m prescriptions were issued in just over five months, making it one of the fastest pharmaceutical launches on record. Yet convenience alone may not reshape the market, with injectable GLP-1s still delivering greater weight loss in trials and expected to remain dominant for years.

As use of the class expands, attention is also turning to long-term safety, with a July study reporting modest increase in hair loss risk among GLP-1 users with type 2 diabetes, although the absolute risk remained low.

UK-US pharma deal

Also this month, a BMJ analysis estimated the UK-US pharmaceuticals trade deal could increase NHS medicines spending by £44.7bn by 2036 if no additional funding is provided. The agreement maintains tariff-free access for UK pharmaceutical exports to the US for three years while committing the NHS to increase spending on innovative branded medicines and reduce VPAG rebate rates.

The UK Government was quick to reject the study’s conclusions, arguing the modelling overstated the financial impact by assuming higher medicines spending would come entirely from existing NHS budgets and failed to account for the wider health and economic benefits of earlier access to innovative medicines.

The next step now sits on the desk of new Prime Minister Andy Burnham. The new leader is already facing calls from campaign groups to revisit the deal, while the pharmaceutical industry has urged the Government to maintain its commitments on medicines spending and pricing.

Honourable mention of the month

Finally, Eli Lilly turned heads in July with its up-to $3.8bn acquisition of AtaiBeckley, adding BPL-003, a synthetic version of the psychedelic compound 5-MeO-DMT found in Colorado River toad venom, to its neuroscience pipeline for treatment-resistant depression. The deal reflects a broader trend: neuroscience is once again attracting major pharmaceutical investment, with psychedelic therapies increasingly moving from the fringe to the mainstream.