Earlier this year, former banker and superbug pundit Lord Jim O’Neill suggested that a nationalised drug company could be the answer to the UK’s lack of investment in new antibiotics. But is such drastic action really necessary? We debate the need for a state-run system.

Also, we dive into the topic of ocean forests and the search for the next drug treasure trove in the underwater biome, take a look at the race to get NASH drugs to market as industry heavyweights including Pfizer, Novartis, Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb compete to win the first approval, and examine the therapeutic benefits of the world’s first treatment for post-partum depression, Brexanolone.

Plus, we find out about an AI platform that can predict trial failures to see how technology could help save pharmaceutical companies time and money in the clinical stage, and explore the promise of ‘enriching’ clinical trials with ‘discovery proteomics’.

Eloise McLennan, editor