A new study has found that a combination of two drugs could enhance the immune system to treat one of the most common types of cancer in the world, bowel cancer. Also known as colorectal cancer, despite its widespread presence, the treatment options for this condition are limited. What the study specifically found was that this procedure could shrink the tumours caused by this condition by around 60%.

What Are The Drugs Involved

The trial involved the use of two immunotherapy drugs, botancilimab and balstilumab. It is a monoclonal antibody that works to stimulate the body's immune system to attack cancer. The study is a rather significant find, as it’s the first time that a consistent and durable response to immunotherapy has been reported in patients with solid MSS mCRC tumours.

The study was divided into several phases for more than 6 months. In the US trial, around around 101 patients with microsatile stable metastatic colorectal (MSS-mCRC) tumours showed a decrease . Around 61% of the patients experienced tumour shrinkage or stabilization after combined treatment with votancilumab and balstilumab. When it comes to downsides, diarrhea and fatigue were found to be the most common side effects or side effects of this drug.

These results are interesting and open to exploration. To date, immunotherapy has not been effective in patients with CNS-mCRC tumors. This study demonstrates the potential of the combination of botenlimab and balstilimab in the treatment of CNS mCRC, providing new hope for people diagnosed with colon cancer.

What Could This Mean For Bowel Cancer Treatment In The Future

The study is currently in the final stages of clinical trials, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hopes to quickly gain approval for its use because of the importance of this area that affects many people. The efficiency shown demonstrates the potential of botansilimab to contribute to broad antitumor immunity.

All in all, the combination of botensilimab and balstilimab represents a promising new direction in the treatment of colorectal cancer. This breakthrough could improve conditions for many patients worldwide and lights a new hope in the fight against this common disease. The results of this study show the effectiveness of immunotherapy in this field and how its potential to transform cancer treatment can only grow in the years to come.

The Supreme Court, on Thursday, asked the Centre to form a panel to form statutory regulations against unethical practices by pharmaceutical companies. This includes gift giving, hospitality, and other incentives offered to doctors.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued the direction while hearing a petition seeking stronger regulation of pharmaceutical marketing practices.

The court wants the committee to recommend whether, and how, the unethical interactions between pharmaceutical companies and doctors should be brought under a legally enforceable framework.

The matter will resume in court on January 29, 2027, when the Centre is expected to show compliance with the directions.

What Did The Supreme Court Say?

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The court's order follows earlier concerns about whether the existing system is equipped to prevent unethical pharmaceutical marketing.

Justice Sandeep Mehta, reading out the order, said, “We have directed the Union of India to constitute the committee and give its recommendations in terms of our previous directives and observations.”

The committee will examine the representations received and make recommendations to the Union government on the need for statutory regulation.

The Court had reserved order after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the Court that the Union government is to form a three-member committee to assess whether a statutory framework is needed to regulate unethical practices by pharmaceutical companies.

The case was filed by the Federation of Medical and Sales Representatives' Associations of India (FMRAI), which has sought accountability for alleged practices such as expensive gifts, foreign trips, hospitality and other benefits used to promote medicines to doctors.

It said, “This has led to over-prescription of drugs resulting in a serious infringement of the right to life and the right to health of the citizens.”

What Are Pharma Freebies To Doctors?

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Pharmaceutical companies use various marketing strategies to promote their products to healthcare professionals. These can include gifts, hospitality, sponsored travel, benefits related to conference and other promotional incentives.

The concern before the Supreme Court is not just an ordinary interaction between drug companies and doctors, but whether financial or material incentives can unethically influence drug-prescribing decisions.

India already has the Uniform Code for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP), 2024, which lays down rules concerning gifts, physician samples, brand reminders, continuing medical education and other promotional activities. However, questions remain over whether the framework has adequate statutory regulation.

The Centre has previously said the UCPMP is functioning, but agreed that the question of giving pharmaceutical marketing regulation statutory backing should be examined separately.

The Centre, in its response, said, “The Department of Pharmaceuticals has issued the Uniform Code for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP), which is applicable to Pharmaceutical Companies, medical representatives and agents.” The code clearly prohibits pharmaceutical companies from offering gifts, travel facilities, hospitality, cash or monetary grants to physicians or their family members, it added.

Unethical Pharma Marketing Could Affect Patients

The biggest concern is that a prescribing decision could become influenced by factors other than clinical need, evidence, safety, and cost. If incentives influence prescribing, patients could potentially face:

• Unnecessary medicines when they are not clinically needed
• More expensive branded drugs when alternatives exist
• Higher doses or longer treatment than necessary
• Polypharmacy, or the use of multiple medicines when fewer may be appropriate
• Higher out-of-pocket healthcare expenses

These concerns have previously been raised before the Supreme Court in relation to alleged pharmaceutical marketing practices. The issue, therefore, goes beyond ethics for patients. The doctor-pharma relationship can directly affect what medicine a patient receives, how long they take it, and how much they pay.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is moving deeper into biological research, with Meta, Google DeepMind, the US government and other partners backing a $1.8 billion effort to build AI-ready biological datasets and predictive models of life that could help scientists better understand, predict and treat diseases.

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan-backed nonprofit Biohub first announced the Virtual Biology Initiative in April 2026 with a $500 million commitment.

The five-year effort aims to generate large-scale, multimodal biological data that could help scientists develop AI models capable of predicting how cells respond to different interventions — potentially accelerating disease research, drug discovery and the development of new treatments.

The initiative has now expanded through partnerships involving the US Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health, Meta, Google DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs, bringing the total commitment to $1.8 billion.

“An accurate predictive model of biology could dramatically accelerate scientific discovery by enabling scientists to perform experiments digitally. The insights that come from this could unlock a far greater understanding of disease and open up completely new paths for cures,” said Biohub Head of Science Alex Rives.

“Because of this potential, the creation of a virtual cell is one of the most important challenges for the next era of science. It will require coordinated data generation efforts at a national and international scale, which is why these partners are coming together. We invite the worldwide scientific community to join us in this project,” he added.

Also read: Anthropic, OpenEvidence Expand Clinical AI Globally: WHO Warns of Ethics Risks

What Is the Virtual Biology Initiative?

The Virtual Biology Initiative aims to coordinate biological data generation across institutions and scientific disciplines, creating open, AI-ready datasets that can support predictive models of life.

The broader goal is to build increasingly accurate models of the complex workings of cells, allowing scientists to investigate biological mechanisms and understand how diseases develop. Such models could allow researchers to ask and test questions digitally at a scale and speed that would be difficult to achieve through laboratory experiments alone.

If successful, the approach could help accelerate scientific discovery, identify potential biological targets and support the development of therapies for complex diseases.

Of that commitment, $400 million supports technologies designed to expand what scientists can measure, including cryo-electron tomography to resolve near-atomic details inside cells, microscopy capable of imaging millions to billions of cells in living tissue, and engineering tools to build and perturb biology at molecular, cellular, tissue and whole-organism levels. A further $100 million supports research outside Biohub.

Read More: Google DeepMind’s AlphaGenome Atlas Maps 9 Billion Mutations in Human Genome; To Reveal Genetics, Rare Disease Clues

Inside the $1.8B AI Biology Effort

• Biohub: Provides biological measurement technologies, research infrastructure and open datasets to build the foundation for virtual biology.
• US Department of Energy: Will contribute more than $500 million through its Genesis Mission, including advanced imaging, biological research, AI-driven analysis, modeling and high-performance computing.
• NIH: Brings together existing biomedical datasets, repositories, knowledge bases and research infrastructure developed through previous federal investment.
• Google DeepMind: Contributes AI and AI-for-science expertise to help develop predictive models of biology.
• Isomorphic Labs: Brings AI-driven drug discovery expertise and capabilities in biological modelling.
• Meta: Brings AI and computational expertise as part of the industry's collective $300 million commitment.
• NVIDIA: Contributes accelerated computing infrastructure, software and technical expertise.
• Research institutions: Organizations including the Allen Institute, Broad Institute, Gladstone Institutes, Human Cell Atlas, Human Protein Atlas and Wellcome Sanger Institute contribute biological data, scientific expertise and international coordination.

France is reporting a rise in COVID-19 cases as the government prepares to launch its autumn COVID and flu vaccination campaign on October 13. The increase comes as neighboring UK is also reporting higher COVID activity and hospitalizations.

COVID-19 Cases Rise in France

Data from the Réseau Sentinelles and other networks monitored by Santé publique France showed an increase in COVID-19 infections during the week of September 21-27, The Connexion reported.

The estimated number of people with COVID-19 who consulted GPs for acute respiratory infections rose to 13 per 100,000, up from nine the previous week. This translates to around 8,806 new cases, compared with about 6,000 the previous week.

The figures cover only people who consulted a GP, so the actual number of infections could be higher.

Overall, acute respiratory infections reported by GPs rose from 103 to 151 cases per 100,000 people. Rhinoviruses were more common, detected in 40% of samples, compared with 10% for COVID.

Emergency visits for suspected COVID among people aged 15 and older also increased by 22%, or 114 visits. However, hospital admissions following emergency visits remained stable and overall COVID activity remained at a low level.

"As always, it's not the patient's interest that counts, but that of the system," said Jérôme Marty, a GP in southern France, according to Franceinfo. Marty said he had been seeing a steady stream of COVID patients in recent weeks.

Also read:‘American Covid’ Strain Drives 50% Surge in UK Hospital Admissions: XFG Symptoms to Know

Doctors Seek Earlier Vaccination

The French government has rejected demands from a doctors’ union to bring forward the vaccination campaign.

Marty, who is also president of the UFML doctors’ union, said he was “dismayed” by the decision to start the campaign on October 13.

"There is no public health campaign; people are not reminded to wear a mask when they have symptoms... We are lagging!" he said.

The office of Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said that “indicators do not show a situation justifying the early launch of the campaign.”

Syringe Shortage Concerns

Meanwhile, pharmacy groups have raised concerns about vaccine administration supplies. In an open letter to the minister, they warned that multi-dose vaccine vials require suitable syringes and needles, which pharmacists must now purchase themselves.

The groups called for sufficient supplies and financial coverage and urged greater use of pre-filled syringes in future campaigns.

XFG Vaccine Set for October 13

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For autumn 2026, France will use the monovalent Comirnaty XFG vaccine.

COVID vaccination is particularly recommended for people at higher risk of severe disease, including those aged 65 and over, pregnant women, people with weakened immune systems and those with certain chronic conditions.

The 30-microgram dose is for people aged 12 and older, while the 10-microgram dose is for children aged 6 months to 11 years.

UK, US Also Report COVID Rise

In England, COVID activity increased in the week to September 20. Hospital PCR positivity rose from 5.9% to 7.0%, while hospital admissions increased from 0.81 to 1.20 per 100,000 people. Overall activity remained low.

In the US, CDC data from September 29 showed cases rising in some states while falling or remaining stable in others.

What Is the XFG Variant?

XFG is a recombinant SARS-CoV-2 variant formed from Omicron subvariants LF.7 and LP.8.1.2. The WHO records the earliest documented XFG sample on January 27, 2025, and designated it a variant under monitoring in June 2025.

The variant has since been detected in multiple countries and remains among the SARS-CoV-2 variants being monitored by WHO.

What Are the Symptoms of XFG?

COVID symptoms can vary between individuals. Reported symptoms associated with the current circulation of XFG include:

• Cough

• Fever

• Sore throat

• Headache

• Runny nose

• Fatigue.