FTSE 100 news / Companies and sectors / Pharma and healthcare / 17 October 2026
Pharma and healthcare: sector news on Saturday 17 October 2026
Average tone +2.8 (slightly positive) across 5 companies with relevant coverage, from 49 stories.
Company by company
| Company | Tone | Stories | What the coverage was about |
|---|---|---|---|
| AstraZeneca | +6.3 | 32 | Coverage was dominated by the AI drug discovery deal with insitro, alongside supportive analyst targets and ratings from RBC, Berenberg and Citi, plus expansion news from its Indian arm. |
| GSK | +2.0 | 10 | Coverage was mixed. |
| Haleon | +2.8 | 4 | Coverage focused on Haleon's oral health business supporting its dividend, alongside the appointment of Deep Malde to lead expert marketing and transformation. |
| Convatec | +1.3 | 2 | Coverage was limited to two analysis pieces on Convatec, one on its buyback set against a stretched payout and one on whether the shares trade below fair value on cash flow. |
| Smith & Nephew | +1.3 | 1 | Coverage was a single piece looking at Smith & Nephew's outlook and dividend. |
Strongest stories in the sector
- −9.2 Strikes at GSK’s Belgian sites over plans to cut 1200 jobs
Strikes at Belgian sites over 1,200 planned job cuts. - +8.3 While the market panics about the FTSE 100, Citi just raised its AstraZeneca target to £186
Citi raises price target to £186. - +7.5 GSK showcases pipeline momentum across lung, gynaecological and gastrointestinal cancers at ESMO 2026
Oncology pipeline progress showcased at major cancer conference. - +7.0 AstraZeneca and insitro forge $1.5bn AI-powered cardiometabolic partnership
Large AI-powered cardiometabolic partnership. - +6.7 AstraZeneca agrees $40m AI drug discovery deal with insitro
AI drug discovery deal agreed. - +6.7 AstraZeneca, insitro Sign AI Drug Discovery Deal
AI drug discovery deal with insitro. - +6.7 AstraZeneca partners with AI biotech insitro on liver, heart drugs
Partnership with AI biotech on liver and heart drugs. - +6.7 AZ and insitro ink AI collaboration to target MASH and cardiomyopathies
AI collaboration targeting MASH and cardiomyopathies. - +6.7 insitro and AstraZeneca strike up to $1.5B AI drug-discovery partnership for liver and heart disease
Up to $1.5B AI partnership for liver and heart disease. - +6.7 AstraZeneca invests in AI against fatty liver and heart muscle disease
Investment in AI for fatty liver and heart disease. - +6.7 AstraZeneca strikes $1.5b AI drug discovery deal with Insitro
AI drug discovery deal with insitro. - +6.7 EMA's CHMP Recommends Extension Of Therapeutic Indication For Pandemic Influenza Vaccine H5N1 AstraZeneca
CHMP recommends extended indication for its H5N1 pandemic vaccine.
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