Bukwang and subsidiary Contera have become the latest to fail to progress a novel Parkinson's therapy to late-stage trials after a Phase II miss, although several other Korean firms remain in the race for the challenging indication, albeit mainly in Phase I-II.

Neither the mechanism nor indication is disclosed, but BMS is paying $80m up front for global rights to PRX019, which one analyst speculated might be an Alzheimer’s candidate.

More than 100 biopharma executives and experts told Scrip their predictions for therapeutic area advances in the coming year. The recent commercial success of GLP-1s in diabetes and obesity and their potential in further disease areas fuelled excitement around the metabolic space. Expectations were also positive in neurology following the launch of Leqembi for Alzheimer’s disease in 2023, while the multiple opportunities to improve cancer treatment kept oncology top of the pile overall.

Bristol Myers Squibb will double its neuroscience portfolio from one to two drugs after it pays $330 per share for Karuna and its lead asset KarXT, accelerating the big pharma’s diversification plans.