March 2025 • PharmaTimes Magazine • 9
// CONDITIONS //
UK study highlights GP data in understanding atrial fibrillation
A new UK study has highlighted the critical role of GP data in understanding atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common form of abnormal heart rhythm.
The research led by Oxford Population Health demonstrates how communication across NHS settings and access to comprehensive healthcare data can improve patient care for those with AF and other conditions.
Approximately 1.5 million people in the UK are living with AF, which causes the heart to beat irregularly and often too fast. The condition is not life-threatening, but it can create blood clots in the heart and is believed to contribute to one in five strokes.
The team used UK Biobank data from 230,060 individuals who had agreed to allow access to their GP records and details of any hospital admissions to find potential differences between people with AF recorded in different healthcare settings. Of these, 7,136 had a diagnosis of AF recorded during the seven years average follow-up period.
The researchers, funded by the British Heart Foundation the National Institute of Health and Care Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, identified 28% more cases of AF by taking data from GPs into account compared to using hospital data alone, and evidence of the condition was recorded an average of 1.3 years earlier.
Libtayo available in Scotland for cervical cancer patients
Regeneron UK Limited has announced that the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has accepted Libtayo (cemiplimab) for use on the NHS.
This approval is for second-line monotherapy treatment of adults with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer and disease progression after platinum-based chemotherapy.
Although cervical cancer is often curable when detected early advanced or metastatic disease has a poor prognosis and can significantly impact quality of life. Treatment options are also more limited in advanced stages. In Scotland, only 20% of women diagnosed with stage IV cervical cancer will survive five years.
James Winterman, Regeneron UK and Ireland Country Manager, Oncology, said: “The acceptance of cemiplimab by the SMC marks the availability of the first immunotherapy for recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer on or after platinum-based chemotherapy, irrespective of PD-L1 expression level or tumour histology.”
“This is a significant advance for women who currently have limited options. The rate of women diagnosed with cervical cancer each year is significantly higher in Scotland compared to the UK average.”
Cemiplimab is a fully human monoclonal antibody targeting the immune checkpoint receptor PD-1 on T cells. By binding to PD-1 cemiplimab has been shown to block cancer cells from using the PD-1 pathway to suppress T-cell activation.
HOT & NOT
NHS England has launched its first-ever breast cancer awareness campaign aimed at highlighting the benefits of screening for the disease.
The drive, supported by Breast Cancer Now, comes as a new NHS survey of 2,000 women revealed that almost 40% rarely or never talk about breast screening with their female friends and families, and 24% would not attend unless they had symptoms.
Breast cancer screening is offered every three years to women aged between 50 and 71.
Helsinki-based Aplagon has raised EUR 7 million to advance its APAC therapeutic for thrombo-inflammatory diseases into phase 2a clinical trials.
Aki Prihti, CEO of Aplagon, said: “We’re delighted to secure this fund-raising, and to bring on board FSG and EIC Fund as highly experienced VC investors from outside Finland”.
The funding round was led by Fåhraeus Startup and Growth AB and European Innovation Council Fund.
UCB has announced impressive two-year data for BIMZELX (bimekizumab) at the 2025 EHSF.
The data from the BE HEARD trials highlight sustained disease control in moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa (HS).
After two years of treatment with bimekizumab, 53.1% of patients experienced mild disease compared to none at baseline. Moreover, 83.4% of patients remained flare-free and 86.9% of HiSCR75 responders at 48 weeks maintained their response.
Telix Pharmaceuticals has announced that the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved the Marketing Authorisation Application for its prostate cancer PET imaging agent, Illuccix.
The agent is designed for detecting and localising prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-positive lesions in adults with prostate cancer using PET.
This is a significant advancement in prostate cancer management, replacing conventional imaging methods like bone scans and CT scans as the standard of care after initial diagnosis and biochemical recurrence (BCR).
Responding to the findings from the ‘Lost in the System; the need for better admin in the NHS’ report from The King’s Fund, National Voices and Healthwatch England, Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said:
“The findings of this report paint a worrying picture of the scale of poor administration and the impact it can have on patients, who are often left feeling stressed and anxious when dealing with NHS health services.”
Responding to the latest urgent and emergency care situation report published by NHS England, Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said:
“We welcome the drop in patients admitted to hospital with flu in what has been a tough and long winter. However, a record high this winter for delayed discharges with 13,776 hospital beds filled up with patients medically fit enough to be discharged, shows that the NHS is not out of the woods yet."
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