Considering climate change and how pharma is involved 

Welcome to the June issue of Pharmafocus!

This month’s issue covers the latest news, from the US Food and Drug Administration approving the world’s first RSV vaccine (page 2) and pharmacists in England being given greater prescribing powers to reduce the strain on the NHS (page 5), to the National Institute of Health awarding a grant to gammaCore for its clinical trial for patients with opioid use disorders (page 11) and GSK acquiring Bellus Health in a £1.6bn deal (page 12).

This issue also includes a fascinating Q&A from AstraZeneca that considers the link between climate health and human health, as well as looking at how the pharma industry is involved and what companies can do to reduce their impact (page 14).

CytoReason explores patient heterogeneity and explains why it is so significant for successful drug development (page 16), while Medidata talks to Pharmafocus about pharmaceutical regulation, as well as the challenges and possibilities posed by digitalisation (page 18).

Finally, I explore the impact climate change could have on health in general, specifically considering whether this may worsen, or even trigger, future pandemics (page 20).

I hope you enjoy this issue, and keep an eye out for the next issue of Pharmafocus released at the end of June!

Betsy Goodfellow