Unicorns, AI, and the future of health: Highlights from HLTH Europe 2025

The second annual HLTH Europe conference brought together health leaders, start-ups, investors, and developers from across the globe for a mid-year pulse check on where healthcare innovation stands today – and where it’s headed next. Amid economic uncertainty and shifting regulatory priorities, pharma, health tech, and care delivery are all racing to prove value and scale innovation. In this special extended episode of the pharmaphorum podcast, Deep Dive editor Eloise McLennan sat down with editor-in-chief Jonah Comstock for a candid debrief on the key themes, hot topics, and hallway conversations that shaped the event in Amsterdam. From the rise of GLP-1s and the push for true patient-centricity, to the potential (and pitfalls) of AI and the routes to funding bold new ideas, they unpack what’s hype, what’s real, and what still needs funding to take flight. Plus, exclusive interviews from the show floor: Benedikt von Thüngen, founder and CEO of Sanome, on how AI is helping the NHS predict the risk of hospital-acquired infections Fiona Costello from Brain+, on making cognitive stimulation therapy for dementia more accessible, scalable, and effective Nick Ross, co-founder of Invest in Equity, on why the future of life sciences investment must be built on gender equality You can listen to this episode, as well as previous episodes of the pharmaphorum podcast, in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it - and subscribe to the rest of the series - on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

In today's healthcare landscape, there is a pressing need for quantitative methodologies that include the patients' perspective in any treatment decision. In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh spoke with Marc Buyse, founder of IDDI and One2Treat, and also co-founder of CluePoints, about his recent work as one of the editors of – and a chapter contributor to – the first edition of "𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴: 𝘔𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵-𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘴", recently published by the Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. The conversation explores generalised pairwise comparisons (or GPCs), applications in various disease areas, implications for regulatory approvals and benefit-risk analyses, and considerations for patient-centricity in clinical research and treatment decisions. You can also listen to episode 189a of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it - and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

At this year’s Veeva R&D and Quality Summit, it was revealed that Novo Nordisk and Veeva have entered into a new partnership for clinical development. In this episode of the pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh spoke with Stephanie Bova, chief digital officer at Novo Nordisk, and Rik van Mol, SVP R&D and Quality at Veeva, about the partnership, Novo aiming to accelerate clinical trials and launches by uniting business and IT on the Veeva Development Cloud to enhance collaboration, automation, and data consistency. It’s a mutual collaboration for addressing challenges and opportunities within these areas for Novo, while learnings from the collaboration will feedback into what Veeva does for the industry.  You can also listen to episode 188a of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it - and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

The JCA process was passed into law by the European Union in 2022. The Joint Clinical Assessment is a process that will systematically assess all available clinical evidence for new drugs. Rolled out in stages, starting with oncology drugs and advanced therapy medicinal products this year, it will be fully implemented by 2030. In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh speaks with Tommy Bramley, SVP of market access and healthcare consulting at Cencora, about the JCA, as yet unanswered questions (at the time of the conversation) and the key challenges facing manufacturers. Bramley also discusses the work of Cencora within this changing landscape of drug clinical assessment. You can also listen to episode 187a of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it - and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

Originally employed in atomic physics, mass spectrometry is now an indispensable tool in modern science, and importantly medical science. In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh spoke with Melissa Sherman, CEO of MOBILion Systems, a company pioneering next-generation separation science, by innovating best-in-class instruments that deeply, accurately, and efficiently characterise complex molecules. Sherman discusses the practical impact of this new technology for R&D, MOBILion's work with mass spectrometry technology at the moment, and the future horizon for this and NGS. You can also listen to episode 186a of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it - and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

Onsite at ASCO 2025 in Chicago, web editor Nicole Raleigh sat down with Dr Stacy Lindborg, CEO of IMUNON, to discuss the company’s oral presentation at the Congress from the Phase 2 OVATION 2 study of IMNN-001, an IL-12 immunotherapy, in women with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer – since published in the peer-reviewed journal Gynecologic Oncology today. Dr Lindborg shares her journey to her present role, the true potential shown in this new data for addressing unmet needs in advanced ovarian cancer, and the oncological space – and ASCO 2025 itself – more generally. You can also listen to episode 185a of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it - and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

Osteosarcoma is an extremely challenging and often aggressive cancer that has particular treatment challenges due to location, changing genotypes, and high recurrence rates. It mostly affects children and young adults under 20 years of age. In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh spoke with Paul Romness, president and CEO of OS Therapies, a company focused on the identification, development, and commercialisation of treatments for osteosarcoma (OS) and other solid tumours. Describing the current treatment landscape for primary and secondary bone cancer, Romness explains the potential of their own – OST-HER2, a bioengineered bacterial immunotherapy based on listeria. You can also listen to episode 184a of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it - and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

At ASCO 2025, Servier presented data in the IDH-mutated cancer space. Onsite at McCormick Place in Chicago, pharmaphorum web editor Nicole Raleigh spoke with Becky Martin, chief US medical at Servier about the key data from the company’s Tibsovo and Voranigo programmes, as well as the implications for patients and the wider themes of the Congress this year. Listen to this and other interviews from ASCO 2025 here.

In healthcare, some of the most meaningful innovations happen when the right people are brought together in the right place. True progress depends on systems and infrastructure designed to connect ideas, people, and expertise across sectors. Citylabs 4.0, now open in the heart of Manchester’s Knowledge Quarter on the Oxford Road Corridor, was built with exactly that goal in mind. Bringing the NHS, academia, and life sciences organisations into close, purposeful proximity, providing a structural foundation for collaboration at scale. In this special live recording of the pharmaphorum podcast, developed in association with Bruntwood SciTech, Bruntwood SciTech’s CSO Dr Kath Mackay, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust T’s Dr Katherine Boylan, and Dr Gillian Dalgliesh from QIAGEN join Deep Dive editor Eloise McLennan onstage at the opening of Citylabs 4.0 to discuss innovation in life sciences and the role of Greater Manchester in accelerating research, industry collaboration, and real-world evidence generation. Join us as we examine how this deliberate integration of healthcare stakeholders in Manchester is establishing new standards for collaboration and advancing patient outcomes through structured knowledge exchange. About the interviewees Dr Kath Mackay Kath Mackay is Chief Scientific Officer of Bruntwood SciTech - a JV between leading property developer Bruntwood, Legal & General, and Greater Manchester Pension Fund - the UK’s leading creator and developer of innovation districts driving growth of the UK science and technology sector.  She has a keen interest in growing businesses and infrastructure within the sector, ensuring the UK is the best place to establish and scale a science and tech organisation.   Dr Mackay joined Bruntwood SciTech from the executive board of Innovate UK where she led the team responsible for growing businesses working in the biomedical, health, agriculture, and food sectors, creating and delivering a £800m portfolio of infrastructure, Catapults, grant and loan investments. She is also non-executive director of the Northern Health Science Alliance, the North of England’s health partnership, and an elected fellow of the Royal Society of Biology. Dr Katherine Boylan Katherine is Director of Innovation at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), a position she has held since April 2020. This role involves overseeing innovation activities within MFT, as part of the wider Research and Innovation function. Innovation at MFT supports the whole pipeline from ideation, through to evidence generation, and ultimate implementation. She has been a member of the NICE Medical Technologies Advisory Committee since September 2020. Prior to this position, Dr Boylan worked in the University of Manchester for a number of years, most recently as Operations Director for the MRC funded Molecular Pathology Node, and the Trust-funded Diagnostics and Technology Accelerator. Dr Gillian L Dalgliesh, PhD Global Technical lead, Precision Diagnostics Gillian Dalgliesh has worked for QIAGEN for nine years and is based at their Manchester site, which is the global centre of excellence for molecular diagnostic development. QIAGEN partner with many drug companies to develop companion diagnostic (CDx) tests that enable clinical trials and subsequently launches of novel precision medicines. In recent years they have seen a real move beyond oncology into other disease areas such as immune, neurological and metabolic disorders. Dr Dalgliesh’s role as global technical lead allows her to leverage her oncology precision medicine experience across the portfolio to bring precision diagnostic products to more patients. She has built her experience in precision medicine/oncology through not only her QIAGEN role but also through seven years working in precision medicine in AstraZeneca and prior to that working as part of the cancer genome project at the Sanger institute. Dr Dalgliesh is also an honorary senior lecturer at University of Manchester where she coordinates and delivers lectures for a QIAGEN sponsored BSc final year elective module ‘The Role of Diagnostics in Medicine’. This is part of a wider outreach role with the University and our NHS hospital. Through these roles she is keen to impact the local UK science community. About Bruntwood SciTech Bruntwood SciTech is the UK’s largest dedicated property platform serving the growth of the nation’s knowledge economy to become a global science and technology superpower. It is also the leading developer of city-wide innovation ecosystems and specialist environments, helping companies - particularly those in the science and technology sectors - to form, scale and grow A joint venture between Bruntwood, Legal & General and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF), Bruntwood SciTech provides high quality office and laboratory space and tailored business support, offering unrivalled access to finance, talent and markets, an extensive clinical, academic and public partner network and a sector-specialist community of more than 1100 companies. Bruntwood SciTech is experienced in creating and developing strategic partnerships with UK regional cities, universities and NHS Trusts to drive economic growth. Its unique structure and funding vehicle more easily deploys long-term patient capital in innovation infrastructure, ensuring local economic benefit and growth. Valued at £1.5bn, Bruntwood SciTech has a portfolio of 5.2m sq ft across 11 campus locations and 31 city centre innovation hubs in Manchester, Cheshire, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Cambridge and London. It has plans to create a £5bn portfolio by 2033 and has a 2.3m sq ft secured development pipeline. Its campus locations include Alderley Park in Cheshire; West Village in Leeds; Innovation Birmingham; Birmingham Health Innovation Campus in partnership with the University of Birmingham; Melbourn Science Park in Cambridgeshire; Liverpool Science Park as a shareholder in Sciontec Liverpool; White City Deep Tech Campus in partnership with Imperial College London; and a cluster in the heart of Manchester’s Oxford Road Corridor knowledge quarter - Manchester Science Park, Citylabs in partnership with Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), Circle Square - a joint venture with Vita Group; and the £1.7bn JV partnership with The University of Manchester - Sister, formerly known as IDManchester. Its city centre innovation hubs include Bloc, Bond, 111 Piccadilly, Pall Mall and Manchester One in Manchester; Platform in Leeds; Cornerblock and Centre City in Birmingham; and The Plaza in Liverpool. Website / Twitter / LinkedIn / Instagram

Boehringer Ingelheim’s data presented at ASCO 2025 reflected the company’s broad pipeline and growing body of evidence supporting innovative therapies for various cancers. In a pharmaphorum podcast recorded onsite at the Congress, web editor Nicole Raleigh spoke with Itziar Canamasas, global head of oncology at Boehringer Ingelheim, for a discussion of the unmet needs in oncology and some of the specifics of the company’s data presentations. The conversation also touches upon highlights from this year’s annual meeting and hopes for transformation of the oncological field in the future. Watch this and other interviews from ASCO 2025 here.