Life Sciences Daily Summary: What Happened on October 11, 2026

Missed NHS Health Checks were associated with higher risks

Imperial College London researchers analyzed NHS records from 2015 to 2025 for 925,072 people eligible for Health Checks in England. Forty-eight percent attended.1 Compared with attendees, people who missed a check had a 31% higher risk of death from any cause and a 9% higher risk of a first nonfatal heart attack or stroke.1

In North West London, 7,806 attendees were identified with high blood pressure within 30 days of a check, and 4,587 received a type 2 diabetes diagnosis.1 Of those identified with high blood pressure, 55% had brought it down to healthy levels within six months, according to the report.1

A Birmingham asthma project cut biologic treatment waits

In a 12-month comparison before and after University Hospitals Birmingham and Sanofi introduced a jointly funded administrator role, biologic treatment starts for severe asthma rose from 51 to 174.2 Average waits to start treatment fell from 196 days to 103 days over the same period.2

The administrator managed the biologics database and helped coordinate care, prescriptions, and patients’ routes to treatment.2 The service added a weekly biologic clinic. Five months after the administrator started, the Trust approved a business case to retain the role.2

Also worth knowing

• P

  ProAxsis and Imperial College London are evaluating a rapid test for active neutrophil elastase during COPD exacerbations. Study results are expected in 2027.3

• A

  A roundup covered Google DeepMind’s method for tracing AI-designed proteins, studies of generated bacteriophages, and reports on possible gaps in biological AI safeguards.4

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  A cheminformatics roundup described models for identifying potential drug targets and predicting molecular properties beyond the compounds used to train them.5