July/August 2026

NEWS & COLUMNS

6-7 NEWS
AbbVie to acquire Apogee for $10.9bn; Vertex to acquire Crinetics for $10bn

8-9 NEWS
Gilead’s Trodelvy approved by EC for breast cancer; Biogen and Eisai’s Leqembi study of early Alzheimer’s

10 DERMATOLOGY NEWS
Almirall’s Ebglyss for atopic dermatitis; Veradermics for female pattern hair loss

12 DARWIN’S MEDICINE
The epidemiology of ideas

13 TRUST ISN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE
HCPs are competing with social media

14 FOUR POSITIONING CHALLENGES
Helping teams from early strategy to execution

15 FUTURE OF HEALTHCARE COMMS
Communiqué Awards 2026 and the industry

FEATURES

16-17 LUPUS – RESETTING THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
PME spoke to Albert Roy, President and CEO of the Lupus Research Alliance, about how current research could enable standards of care to move from suppressing the immune system to centre on targeted, disease-modifying therapies

18-19 GLP-1s AND THE CONSUMER LIFESTYLE SHIFT
Amazon’s entry into the GLP-1 market should be a signal to pharma that it needs to shift focus from molecule to ‘Operating Model. The era for designing for the patient in the clinic is over – it's time to start designing for the human in the real world ’

22-28 COMMUNIQUÉ AWARDS 2026 – CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE IN HEALTHCARE COMMUNICATIONS
The Communiqué Awards, with 32 categories, showcases the work shaping the industry. This year, new awards were introduced, including Healthcare Communications Writer of the Year

COMMUNIQUE
MARKETING & COMMS

30-31 FORGING A CONNECTION THROUGH CREATIVITY
A spark of creativity can cut through complexity, adding real value and helping to forge true connections with patients

33-35 LEADING THROUGH COMPLEXITY
Strengthening strategic judgement during uncertainty – exploring the strategic concepts that matter most

36-37 SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
How regional conflicts, tariffs, cybercrime and other issues are compounding risks for the pharmaceutical sector

38-39 CREATING A STRONG PATENT PORTFOLIO
Why patenting should not stop at the drug candidate stage – and why coordination between researchers and attorneys is essential

CAREERS & RECRUITMENT

40-42 APPOINTMENTS
Each month, we bring you the latest news on job changes in the pharma sector. This month, we are highlighting change at Sanofi, Candel Therapeutics, Cherry and POP Health

6 AbbVie to acquire Apogee for $10.9bn

8 Gilead’s Trodelvy approved by EC for breast cancer

10 Almirall’s Ebglyss for atopic dermatitis

16 LUPUS – RESETTING THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

18 GLP-1s AND THE CONSUMER LIFESTYLE SHIFT

22 COMMUNIQUÉ AWARDS 2026

30 FORGING A CONNECTION THROUGH CREATIVITY

33 LEADING THROUGH COMPLEXITY

36 SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT