The ongoing struggle in the Nordic countries to keep prescription drug prices affordable without shutting out innovative, more expensive therapies continues to frustrate pharmaceutical companies as the introduction of new drugs to the region slows.

In the phase 3 STEP Young trial, 40.4% of children aged 6 to under 12 treated with once-weekly semaglutide were no longer classified as having obesity after 68 weeks, compared with none of those on placebo.

Vienna-based HeartBeat.bio and Stockholm-based Cubase Bio have been awarded roughly EUR 1 million in Eurostars funding to develop a 3D spatial profiling method for studying myocardial fibrosis and heart failure, combining human cardiac organoids with true 3D spatial transcriptomics technology.

Glycorex Transplantation has agreed a distribution deal with Grupo VIDA for its Glycosorb ABO technology in Brazil, as part of the Swedish medtech company’s continued market expansion.

Neola Medical has been granted Breakthrough Device Designation by the US FDA for Neola, its non-invasive lung monitor for preterm babies, designed to give early warning of life-threatening lung collapse.

Bioretec has received FDA 510(k) clearance for ActivaScrew Cannulated COM, a new bioabsorbable compression screw that expands its Activa implant portfolio into the US market.

Canada’s Drug Agency (CDA-AMC) has issued a final recommendation supporting public reimbursement of Leqembi (lecanemab) for eligible Canadian patients with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease, BioArctic’s partner Eisai announced.

The company has completed a directed share issue as it approaches proof-of-concept data from its Phase IIa study in chronic kidney disease with anemia, expected around the turn of the year.

Canada’s Drug Agency (CDA-AMC) has issued a final recommendation supporting public reimbursement of Leqembi (lecanemab) for eligible Canadian patients with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease, BioArctic’s partner Eisai announced. The Swedish biotech invented the antibody and holds commercialisation rights to it in the Nordic region.

A large population study using NADMED’s redox metabolite testing platform has established healthy reference ranges for NAD and glutathione, two key drivers of cellular energy metabolism, and identified distinct disease-related alterations in both from a single blood sample.

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have developed a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia that forces cancer cells to run at full throttle while cutting off their energy supply, driving them to burn out and die from the stress. The first study in mice shows highly promising results.

Ada Yonath, the 2009 Nobel laureate in Chemistry, died on August 31, 2026, at the age of 87. She was one of the first Nobel Prize laureates I interviewed as a new editor at Nordic Life Science – and the first I met in person, over an interview at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm. Yonath, who in 2009 became the first woman in 45 years to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, spoke to me about her curiosity, polar bears, extremely durable bacteria from the Black Sea, and her passion for science.