Drug ApprovalsFDA clears first DNA immunotherapy for rare airway disease RRP
Voceryq won accelerated approval after a trial of 32 adults in which about a quarter needed no surgery for their papillomas in the following year.
30 October 2026
Clinical Trials Hub: clinical trial and medical research news
Drug Approvals
Drug ApprovalsGene-editing treatment Casgevy extended to UK children aged five
The MHRA has extended Casgevy to children from age five with severe sickle cell disease or thalassaemia, and NICE has widened NHS managed access to match.
30 October 2026
Cardiology
Early TAVR cut heart failure events in moderate aortic stenosis
In PROGRESS, early TAVR cut death or heart failure events by a third versus clinical surveillance at two years in 744 people with moderate aortic stenosis and at-risk features. Early TAVR cut the rate of death or a heart failure event at two years from 23.9% to 16.7% in people with moderate aortic stenosis and at-risk features, in the PROGRESS trial.
· 2 November 2026
The Briefing
Trial results that matter, every Friday.
One email. The week's readouts, approvals and research, explained without hype.
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Oncology
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OncologyNew lung cancer pill beats older KRAS drugs in head-to-head trial
Roche's divarasib kept KRAS G12C lung cancer in check for 9.8 months against 5.7 on sotorasib or adagrasib, and people taking it lived about six months longer.
25 October 2026
OncologyTarlatamab extends small cell lung cancer survival by 8 months
Adding tarlatamab to durvalumab maintenance raised median survival from 12.7 to 21.1 months in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, with mostly mild immune reactions.
24 October 2026
OncologyDrugs around bladder surgery help people who can't have cisplatin
In the VOLGA trial, durvalumab plus enfortumab vedotin around bladder removal lifted two-year survival from 69% to 78% for people who couldn't or wouldn't have cisplatin.
24 October 2026
OncologyA personalised mRNA vaccine cuts melanoma relapse after surgery
A vaccine built from each patient's own tumour, given with pembrolizumab, kept 82% of people relapse-free at two years against 70% on pembrolizumab alone.
24 October 2026
OncologyBowel cancer immunotherapy pair keeps 3 in 4 alive at five years
Final CheckMate 8HW data show nivolumab plus ipilimumab left 77% of people with MSI-high metastatic bowel cancer alive at five years, against 46% on chemotherapy.
24 October 2026
Rare Diseases
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Rare DiseasesSickle cell tablet lifts blood counts but pain crises barely move
In the Lancet-published RISE UP trial, mitapivat raised haemoglobin in 41% of people with sickle cell disease against 3% on placebo, but pain crises didn't fall significantly.
22 October 2026
Rare DiseasesWeekly atacicept keeps kidney function steady in IgA nephropathy
In the ORIGIN 3 trial, people with IgA nephropathy on weekly atacicept lost almost no kidney function over two years, against about 5.6 eGFR units a year on placebo.
22 October 2026
Rare DiseasesDaily pill gives people with sun-induced pain more time outdoors
Phase 3 APOLLO results show bitopertin added about 12 pain-free hours in light each month and cut painful reactions by 71% in erythropoietic protoporphyria, a rare inherited condition.
19 October 2026
Rare DiseasesRare liver itch pill eased itching and cut bile acids by 69%
In the phase 3 EXPAND trial, maralixibat cut worst daily itch by nearly a point versus placebo and reduced serum bile acids by 69% in ultra-rare cholestatic liver diseases.
12 October 2026
Rare DiseasesOne-off Huntington's gene therapy still slows decline at 4 years
Four-year data on uniQure's AMT-130 show slower loss of daily function at the high dose, though the main rating scale result was no longer statistically significant.
29 September 2026
Cardiology
More →CardiologyEarly TAVR cut heart failure events in moderate aortic stenosis
In PROGRESS, early TAVR cut death or heart failure events by a third versus clinical surveillance at two years in 744 people with moderate aortic stenosis and at-risk features.
2 November 2026
CardiologyLung artery nerve procedure halves worsening in heart failure
In PADN-HF-PH, adding pulmonary artery denervation to standard medicines halved clinical worsening in heart failure patients with raised lung pressure over about a year.
30 August 2026
CardiologyFixing a leaky heart valve helps people in their 80s live longer
In the TRIC-I-HF trial, repairing the tricuspid valve through a vein raised the share alive and out of hospital at three years from 21% to 52%.
30 August 2026
CardiologySmarter artery scans after heart attack cut repeat events by 38%
In the AIR-STEMI trial, software that measures blood flow from routine angiograms meant fewer stents, fewer complications and fewer repeat heart events than judging by eye.
29 August 2026
CardiologyNew type of blood thinner fails to prevent repeat heart attacks
In LIBREXIA ACS, milvexian did not reduce heart attacks, strokes or heart deaths after acute coronary syndrome, though it also didn't increase serious bleeding.
29 August 2026
Neurology
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NeurologyTwice-daily MS pill cuts relapses by a third against older tablet
In the REMODEL trials of 2,007 people, remibrutinib cut relapses by about a third and new brain lesions by two thirds against teriflunomide, without liver problems.
23 October 2026
NeurologyAsthma inhaler plus ibuprofen fails to slow early Alzheimer's
The long-delayed Cognite trial of 619 people found inhaled cromolyn plus low-dose ibuprofen did no better than either drug alone, with a non-significant signal in APOE4 non-carriers.
23 October 2026
NeurologyClot removal days after a stroke helps recovery but carries risk
In the LATE-MT trial, thrombectomy 24 to 72 hours after a major stroke helped more people regain independence, but raised brain bleeding and deaths.
23 October 2026
NeurologyVitamin B3 supplement fails to slow Parkinson's in a large trial
In the NOPARK trial of 410 people with early Parkinson's, a year of nicotinamide riboside left symptoms slightly worse than placebo, despite raising NAD levels in the blood.
8 October 2026
NeurologyNon-dopamine Parkinson's pill trims daily OFF time in a big trial
In the phase 3 ARISE trial, once-daily solengepras cut daily OFF time by 0.61 hours against placebo and improved daily function, alertness and quality of life.
6 October 2026
Drug Approvals
More →Drug ApprovalsFDA clears first DNA immunotherapy for rare airway disease RRP
Voceryq won accelerated approval after a trial of 32 adults in which about a quarter needed no surgery for their papillomas in the following year.
30 October 2026
Drug ApprovalsGene-editing treatment Casgevy extended to UK children aged five
The MHRA has extended Casgevy to children from age five with severe sickle cell disease or thalassaemia, and NICE has widened NHS managed access to match.
30 October 2026
Drug ApprovalsProstate cancer pill pair approved earlier for DNA repair genes
The FDA has cleared talazoparib with enzalutamide for gene-mutated hormone-sensitive prostate cancer after TALAPRO-3 cut the risk of scan progression or death by 52%.
26 October 2026
Drug ApprovalsUK approves first daily pill blocking the IL-23 psoriasis signal
The MHRA has approved Icotyde for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis from age 12, after trials in which it beat placebo and an existing oral psoriasis pill.
23 October 2026
Drug ApprovalsFDA approves hepatitis B drug that lets some patients stop pills
Hibsago, an antisense injection from GSK, gave about one in five eligible adults a functional cure in two phase 3 trials, against none on placebo.
20 October 2026
Industry & Regulation
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Industry & RegulationUK trial rules at six months show 7-day approvals for minor edits
Six months into the UK's new clinical trial regulations, the MHRA reports seven-day average approvals for low-risk changes and lists the mistakes that still delay applications.
28 October 2026
Industry & RegulationMHRA Strategy 2030 promises 14-day reviews for first human trials
The UK regulator's five-year plan sets guaranteed assessment times backed by fee rebates, an AI protocol checker and a goal of third place globally for phase 1 trials.
14 October 2026
Industry & RegulationEU Biotech Act would rebuild CTIS for faster multinational trials
The EMA says the proposed Biotech Act affects about 70% of the EU clinical trials system, with first changes possible in 2028 as the FAST-EU pilot tests 70-day approvals.
1 October 2026
Industry & RegulationEU states adopt pharma package that reshapes drug data protection
The Council has adopted the biggest rewrite of EU medicines law in two decades, changing protection periods, orphan exclusivity, antibiotic incentives and EMA review times.
28 September 2026
Industry & RegulationFDA opens Expedited IND Pilot to speed first-in-human US trials
Drug sponsors can now pair with qualified research institutions for rolling FDA review of investigational new drug applications, as the agency tries to shorten first-in-human timelines.
15 September 2026