Summary

The most impactful health news of the week were:

• Biomedicine: Mary-Claire King, discoverer of the breast cancer gene, Princess of Asturias Award for Science.
• Global Health: Dementia is deadly. The UN should take this issue more seriously.
• International Health Policy: A research crisis in the US would have consequences for all of humanity.
• National Health Policy: Doctors respond with a massive strike against the Framework Statute.
• Business: Pharmaceutical companies make their move in the face of the end of patents, $25 billion in deals in a single month.

Biomedicine

• Mary-Claire King, born in Chicago 79 years ago, discoverer of the breast cancer gene, Princess of Asturias Award for Science. King’s discovery was fundamental to developing current methods of cancer surveillance, diagnosis, and treatment based on each patient’s genetics. King was also key to identifying the “stolen children” during the Argentine dictatorship. • Routine screening for fetal abnormalities can improve maternal health. Using genetic sequencing and machine learning, prenatal testing can be used to identify hidden cancers and complications such as pre-eclampsia and pre-term births.

Global Health

• Nature article: Dementia is deadly. The UN should take this issue more seriously. 65% of professionals believe dementia is a result of aging and not a disease in itself.

International Health Policy

• A research crisis in the US with consequences for all of humanity. An inevitable economic, technological, and intellectual collapse will occur if American research institutions stop receiving funding.
• Nature analysis: Who is on RFK Jr.’s new vaccine panel and what can we expect? Several members of the new committee are skeptical of vaccines and belong to militant groups. Many consider it a disaster for public health.
• The French government unveils a mental health plan. Faced with a shortage of professionals and increasing needs, the government promises a reform of psychiatry.

National Health Policy (Spain)

• The maximum period for the AEMPS (Spanish Agency for Public Health) to authorize the sale of a drug in Spain will be 210 days, starting in November. This is part of the effort to improve accessibility to new medications.
• The Ministry of Health gives the green light to the specialties of Medical Genetics and Laboratory Genetics.
• Public/private cooperation undermines the Basque Health Pact dialogue.
• Doctors respond with a massive strike against the Framework Statute. The Ministry, with its erratic policies and lack of a comprehensive reform plan, has made a serious mistake in attempting to reform the Framework Statute, for several reasons: 1. The political conditions are not in place to address such a complex issue; 2. The mistake was made of negotiating only with unions, when many of the professional issues in the Statute required another dialogue; 3. The approach is sectarian and ideological (as in the issue of compatibility between public and private practice); 4. The opportunity to negotiate a “flexibility” of the Statute (making it compatible with other forms of employment relationships, not just civil service-statutory ones) is not being taken advantage of; and 5. Some statements by the minister herself have been particularly unfortunate (“of the six unions, only one is against it,” the doctors’ union), minimizing the role of doctors and assuming that a serious disagreement with them could be compensated for with agreements with other professional groups. In short, an acute problem has been created, where there was a certain stabilized chronic malaise, which required a different approach.

Companies

• International
  • Pharmaceutical companies make their moves in response to the end of patents, €25 billion in agreements in a single month.

• National
  • FAES Farma buys the Italian company SIFI for €270 million, the largest acquisition in its history.

Biomedicine

• Mary-Claire King, born in Chicago 79 years ago, discoverer of the breast cancer gene, Princess of Asturias Award for Science. King’s discovery was fundamental to developing current methods of cancer surveillance, diagnosis, and treatment based on each patient’s genetics. King was also key to identifying the “stolen children” during the Argentine dictatorship (https://elpais.com/ciencia/2025-06-12/mary-claire-king-premio-princesa-de-asturias-de-ciencia-por-sus-hallazgos-en-genetica-del-cancer.html)
• Routine screening for fetal abnormalities can improve maternal health. Using genetic sequencing and machine learning, prenatal tests can be used to identify hidden cancers and complications such as pre-eclampsia and pre-term births (https://wwwe.economist.com/science-and-technology/2025/06/11/a-routine-test-for-fetal-abnormalities-could-improve-a-mothers-health)
• Weight-loss drugs can make oral contraception less effective (https://www.bmj.com/content/389/bmj.r1169)
• Scientists are calling for a halt to research on mirror microbes that could threaten life on Earth. Scientists have launched an international campaign to prevent the creation of synthetic bacteria, which could be life-threatening (https://www.ft.com/content/3f948a86-90df-426d-a602-9421ee2e43a6)
• Stroke, dementia, and depression are more common in people with short telomeres. However, the good news is that this risk is not seen in people who lead healthy lives (https://www.abc.es/salud/enfermedades/ictus-demencia-depresion-comunes-personas-telomeros-cortos-20250611141928-nt.html)
• A study discovers a key factor in aggressive ovarian cancer (https://www.abc.es/salud/enfermedades/estudio-define-factor-clave-cancer-ovario-agresivo-20250609142828-nt.html)

Global Health

• Nature article: Dementia is fatal. The UN should take this issue more seriously. 65% of professionals believe dementia is a result of aging and not a disease in itself (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01768-8)
• Measles outbreak in Afghanistan. More than 57,000 cases have been reported, and 368 children have died (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01243-7/fulltext)
• Sierra Leone struggles as MPOX surges in Africa. Since the beginning of 2024, more than 37,000 cases and 125 deaths have been confirmed (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01242-5/fulltext?rss=yes)

International Health Policy

• USA
  • Science article: A research crisis in the US with consequences for all of humanity. An inevitable economic, technological, and intellectual collapse will occur if American research institutions stop receiving funding (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz6477)
  • Nature analysis: Who is on RFK Jr.’s new vaccine panel and what can we expect? Several members of the new committee are vaccine skeptics and belong to such militant groups. Many consider it a public health disaster (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01852-z)
  • The FDA says using AI in approving new drugs will radically improve efficiency (https://www.anytimes.com/2025/06/10/health/fda-drug-approvals-artificial-intelligence.html)

• United Kingdom
  • Patients with blood cancer in the UK are the first to be offered the “Trojan horse” drug, which can halt the progression of multiple myeloma. The guide was published last Friday by NICE (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jun/13/blood-cancer-patients-england-first-in-world-offered-belantamab-mafodotin-drug)

• France
  • The government unveils a plan for mental health. Faced with a lack of professionals and increasing needs, the government promises a reform of psychiatry (https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2025/06/12/le-gouvernement-devoile-un-plan-pour-la-sante-mentale_6612485_3224.html)
  • Health authorities launch a major study to assess the impact of numerous pollutants (https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2025/06/10/les-autorites-sanitaires-lancent-une-grande-etude-sur-la-sante-des-francais-qui-va-permettre-de-mesurer-l-impact-de-nombreux-polluants_6612084_3244.html)

• European Union
  • The EMA is moving toward a common model for clinical trials. This is reflected in its 2024 report (https://www.consalud.es/industria/el-impulso-de-la-ema-en-la-revolucion-de-los-ensayos-clinicos-ano-clave-para-la-seguridad-y-la-transparencia.html). Access the 2024 EMA report: https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/2024-annual-report-published

National health policy

• Central government initiatives
  • The maximum period for the AEMPS to authorize the sale of a medicine in Spain will be 210 days, starting in November. This is part of the effort to improve accessibility to new medications (https://www.elespanol.com/invertia/observatorios/sanidad/20250614/plazo-maximo-aemps-autorice-venta-medicamento-espana-dias-partir-noviembre/1003743804181_0.html)
  • The Ministry of Health gives the green light to the specialties of Medical Genetics and Laboratory Genetics. In the case of Medical Genetics, access will be restricted to physicians; for Laboratory Genetics, in addition to physicians, Pharmacy, Biology, Chemistry, and Veterinary Medicine (https://www.sanidad.gob.es/gabinete/notasPrensa.do?id=6697)
  • The Public Health Agency seems closer (https://www.consalud.es/politica/la-agencia-de-salud-publica-parece-mas-cerca-although-desde-el-gobierno-no-se-fian.html)

• Initiatives from the Autonomous Communities
  • Liquidity problems force the Murcian Health Service to prioritize which providers it pays. The regional government must comply with the central government’s underfunding, which it estimates at 1.6 billion annually (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/politica/murcia-problemas-liquidez-obligan-sms-priorizar-proveedores-paga.html)
  • Public/private cooperation undermines the Basque Health Pact dialogue. A goal has been set not to exceed the current 6% (https://www.redaccionmedica.com/autonomias/pais-vasco/la-cooperacion-publico-privada-dinamita-el-dialogo-del-pacto-vasco-de-salud-6197)
  • Asturias expands neonatal screening to include ten more metabolic diseases (https://actualidad.asturias.es/-/salud-amplía-el-cribado-neonatal-mediante-la-prueba-de-talón-incorpora-diez-enfermedades-metabólicas-más-y-podrá-detectar-hasta-28-1?redirect=%2F)

• Framework Statute
  • Doctors respond with massive follow-up in the strike against the Framework Statute. They complain that the new Framework Statute fails to address the specific nature of the medical profession, maintains job insecurity, does not guarantee work-life balance or the right to digital disconnection, and leaves unresolved essential issues such as dual work and the counting of on-call hours toward retirement. (https://www.consalud.es/profesionales/los-medicos-espanoles-responden-al-llamamiento-contra-el-estatuto-marco-asi-esta-siendo-el-seguimiento-de-la-huelga.html)

• Ombudsman’s Report
  • Four hospitals flagged by the Ombudsman for delays (https://www.diariomedico.com/medicina/politica/son-hospitales-senalados-memoria-defensor-pueblo-demoras-quirurgica-diagnosticas.html). Access the full report: https://www.defensordelpueblo.es/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Defensor-del-Pueblo_Informe-anual-2024.pd

Companies

• International
  • AstraZeneca signs a $5.2 billion agreement to develop drugs for chronic diseases with a Chinese biotech company (https://www.ft.com/content/fd23a402-5be9-447c-b511-8179a41f280d)
  • Thermo Fisher intends to sell part of its diagnostics business for $4 billion (https://www.ft.com/content/378ab1a3-9b4b-4fb4-ac1a-e10a9cb40c15)
  • A British medical robotics company (CMR Surgical) aims to reach $5.2 billion. $4 billion in sales (https://www.ft.com/content/565fc57f-9061-46ae-af8e-7ffca5012896)
  • Pharmaceutical companies make their moves in the face of the end of patents, $25 billion in agreements in a single month (https://theobjective.com/economia/2025-06-11/farmas-fin-patentes-acuerdos/)
  • NovoNordisk obtains EMA authorization for the use of its obesity therapies in children (https://www.elespanol.com/invertia/observatorios/sanidad/20250609/novo-nordisk-consigue-autorizacion-ema-uso-terapias-obesidad-ninos/1003743792203_0.html)

• National
  • The Galician group Gaias Salud Gaias Salud is strengthening its expansion strategy and acquiring assets in Madrid. Gaias Salud was founded in 2000 and now has seven clinics in Galicia and one in Madrid, all under the name Clínicas Gaias. It also has businesses in the diagnostics, insurance (Gerosalud), and occupational risk areas (https://www.elespanol.com/invertia/observatorios/sanidad/20250609/grupo-gallego-gaias-salud-refuerza-ejecutar-expansion-planea-adquirir-nuevos-activos-madrid/1003743796827_0.html)
  • Sanitas increases its investment in the Vadebebas hospital to 80 million euros, 30 million more than initially planned (https://www.elespanol.com/invertia/observatorios/sanidad/20250609/sanitas-eleva-inversion-hospital-valdebebas-millones-euros/1003743796169_0.html)
  • FAES Farma acquires the Italian company SIFI for 270 million euros. largest acquisition in its history (https://cincodias.elpais.com/companias/2025-06-10/faea-farma-compra-la-italiana-sifi-por-270-millones-la-mayor-adquisicion-de-su-historia.html)

This post is also available in: Spanish