Welcome to the spring 2024 issue of Pharmafile! As the weather starts to warm up and spring is finally upon us, the themes of change, growth and rejuvenation are at the forefront of our minds, therefore now seems like the perfect time to consider these themes within the pharma industry.

This issue covers the latest news from companies such as Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Regeneron, AstraZeneca and more. Also in this issue are some fascinating articles on rare diseases, psychoactives and women’s health.

Our rare diseases section covers all areas of this sector, with SynaptixBio evaluating some of the issues surrounding ongoing treatment, as well as how the pharma industry is continuing to address rare diseases (page 17). Veeva Europe explores how companies can overcome issues to the development and launch of rare disease medicines (page 22) and Alexion explains challenges facing rare disease treatment, with a particular focus on patient-centricity and how this can improve outcomes (page 20).

Our psychoactives section considers their potential for use in the treatment of mental health and psychological disorders. For example, Compass Pathways considers the need for new mental health treatments and assesses whether psychoactives could be the solution (page 24), while Beckley Psytech assesses psychedelic medicine for the treatment of neurological conditions, and how this could develop further (page 26).

Finally, we turn to women’s health, the developments in this field, and challenges facing women’s healthcare. InnoScot Health considers International Women’s Day and how this can be used to inspire inclusive and innovative healthcare (page 32), while Organon assesses the impact of contraceptive innovations to reduce unintended pregnancies and drive generational change (page 30).

With 76 excellent issues since its inception in 1986, we’re sad to announce that this will be the final issue of Pharmafile. but we encourage our readers to turn instead to Pharmafocus and take a look at our exciting monthly magazine that brings you all the latest news and focus topics from the pharma industry.

Our next issue of Pharmafocus (www.pharmafocus.com) will be published at the beginning of June, so be sure to take a look!

Betsy Goodfellow