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 June 2026
A new chapter for ovarian cancer
After years of limited progress, women with advanced ovarian cancer finally received some welcome news this month. NHS England approved mirvetuximab soravtansine for patients with platinum-resistant, FRα-positive ovarian cancer, making it the first new treatment for this setting to reach routine NHS use in more than 20 years.
The obvious question is: why the wait? Unlike breast and lung cancer, ovarian cancer has largely resisted the wave of targeted therapies that transformed oncology over the past decade. Around 80% of women with advanced disease eventually relapse after platinum chemotherapy, yet successive clinical trials in the platinum-resistant setting have struggled to improve survival, leaving oncologists reliant on broadly the same treatment options for two decades. As the charity Target Ovarian Cancer has repeatedly highlighted, this remains one of the biggest areas of unmet need in women’s cancer care.
That may finally be starting to change. Mirvetuximab is one of several late-stage therapies signalling renewed momentum in ovarian cancer after years of disappointment, with companies now targeting biomarker-defined patient populations rather than treating the disease as a single entity. It’s a strategy that’s already reshaped breast and lung cancer, and one that could finally be giving ovarian cancer its own precision medicine moment.
Vaccines before viruses
From treating disease to preventing it, June also saw a renewed push to stay ahead of the next epidemic. CEPI committed $61.8m to fast-track three vaccine candidates against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, before Gavi pledged a further $50m to help manufacturers scale production if the vaccines prove successful. Unlike the better-known Zaire strain, Bundibugyo currently has no licensed vaccine despite causing recent repeated outbreaks in Africa.
The funding marks another step in a preparedness model born out of COVID-19. Rather than waiting for clinical success before investing, CEPI and Gavi are combining research funding with advance manufacturing support in what they describe as a “push-pull” approach, designed to overcome the lack of commercial incentives for outbreak vaccines. It also builds on CEPI’s ambitious 100 Days Mission, which aims to have vaccines ready for deployment within 100 days of identifying a future pandemic threat. The science may still be experimental, but the financing strategy has become increasingly established.
Biotech buying spree continues
Preparing tomorrow’s vaccines is one way to secure future pipelines, while buying them is another. This month alone, GSK agreed to acquire Nuvalent for $10.6bn, Biogen announced plans to buy RayThera for up to $1bn, and Eli Lilly continued its acquisition spree following last month’s trio of vaccine biotech deals worth up to $3.8bn.
The numbers suggest this isn’t simply a fluke of dealmaking. According to EY’s latest Beyond Borders report, biotech revenues grew by 13% in 2025, marking a third consecutive year of expansion, while financing conditions have continued to improve. Meanwhile, STAT reports that biopharma companies have already announced 33 acquisitions worth more than $1bnin the first half of 2026 – surpassing the total number of blockbuster deals completed across the whole of 2025. After several cautious years, biotech is once again looking less like a risky bet and more like big pharma’s preferred route to growth.
Honourable mention of the month
Finally, pharma’s reach extended beyond the laboratory this month. As the FIFA World Cup 2026 got underway, Genentech, Amgen, Sanofi and Bristol Myers Squibb launched community initiatives across host cities in the US, from free health screenings and youth football clinics to neighbourhood regeneration projects. As Host City Supporters, the companies are using the tournament to invest in communities where they already have a strong presence, rather than through traditional global sponsorship.
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