How education exposes the moral and ethical limits of our health decision-making

An important reminder about the impact of innovation and why it matters. What does it say about Australia and our life sciences policy frameworks that locally developed innovations are commercialised in other markets, but not here? Patients need access to the rights they are currently denied and the 'Abilene paradox'.

AdAlta has reported continued survival among patients in its early-stage Chinese study of EW-001, with all five participants remaining in follow-up at the company’s March update still alive as of July.

Percheron Therapeutics, previously known as Antisense, has appointed biotech executive Dr Michael Baker as its new chief executive officer and managing director, as current CEO Dr James Garner prepares to leave the role for an overseas opportunity.

A new 'White Paper' developed by the Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association following its summit in Canberra in March has highlighted the vulnerabilities facing Australia's medicines supply and made a series of recommendations for reform.

The PBS might be viewed as a policy soup. Its ingredients, including affordability, availability, innovation, competition and sustainability, can combine to produce something very good. Yet if one ingredient is neglected, the whole system is undermined and potentially ruined.

The policy would allow trained pharmacists to monitor patients with stable hypertension, type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol. Within limits set by a GP, they could adjust medicines and order appropriate blood tests when clinically necessary.

Two critical differences are that France has a much lower obesity rate and reimburses medicines with a partial subsidy, which is permitted under the PBS but has recently been resisted by policymakers.

For generations of Australians living with cystic fibrosis, adulthood was often viewed as an unlikely destination, but that story is changing.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Moderna’s mRNA influenza vaccine in a major development in the technology.

Kathryn Evans, General Manager, Australia at argenx, said, “We’re very pleased to further strengthen argenx’s relationship with Monash through the new research collaboration, enabling us to access and deeply engage with Australia’s world-class research community."

This discovery and the company have shown that innovation from this part of the world can compete and even lead globally. The unresolved question is whether Australia and New Zealand are prepared to make room for their own innovations at home.

Australian company Neuren Pharmaceuticals has reported a record quarter for DAYBUE (trofinetide), with its partner, Acadia Pharmaceuticals, reporting net sales of US$125 million in the second quarter of 2026.

The Federal Court of Australia has temporarily blocked Viatris from launching its tenofovir alafenamide and emtricitabine brands while Gilead's patent infringement proceedings are heard and resolved.

Moderna has begun vaccinating participants in a Phase 1 clinical trial of mRNA 1469, an investigational vaccine candidate designed to protect against Bundibugyo ebolavirus, or BDBV, a strain of Ebola virus disease for which no approved vaccine currently exists.

The role of community pharmacists is expected to expand further in the coming months, with 250 pharmacists nearing completion of advanced training through the University of Newcastle and UTS.

The PBS is an outlier when it comes to patient rights. It is not just the NDIS. Contrast the non-existence of a patient charter of rights for PBS decision-making with hospitals and aged care. Even private health insurers are subject to an ombudsman with investigatory powers. What makes this program uniquely resistant to patient agency and rights?

The Australian company had already worked with Lilly to prepare an advanced draft of the clinical study protocol before signing the significant agreement.

New Zealand's Pharmac says it is refreshing its patient advisory function to strengthen the way patient voices and lived experience inform its decisions.