PharmTech Weekly Roundup – Week of September 1, 2025

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Aficamten beat metoprolol for oHCM, EMA/WHO hit 10 yrs, Oxford and EIT collaborated on AI vaccine, Offit's FDA exit stirred policy, and Pistoia set agentic AI rule.

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In this new PharmTech video feature, we’ll highlight the week’s industry news in an easy-to-consume, fun format. New roundups will drop every Friday, so be sure to come back each week. And be sure to check the links below for more in-depth coverage of each story.

Cytokinetics' Aficamten, a cardiac myosin inhibitor, significantly outperformed metoprolol in a Phase III trial (MAPLE-HCM) for obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, demonstrating superior efficacy in improving exercise capacity, symptoms, and left ventricular outflow tract gradients.


The European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organization are celebrating a decade of successful collaboration aimed at enhancing global regulatory capacity and public health.


The University of Oxford and the Ellison Institute of Technology launched the Correlates of Immunity—Artificial Intelligence program, a £118 million (US$158 million) initiative focused on understanding immune responses and vaccine protection against antibiotic-resistant pathogens.


Concerns are rising in the US over the removal of key advisory figures, including Paul Offit, from FDA vaccine advisory committee under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.


Finally, the Pistoia Alliance announced an Agentic AI Collaboration initiative to establish standards and protocols for the safe and responsible adoption of "agentic AI" in the life sciences.