AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 27, 2026--
Avanzanite Bioscience B.V., a European pharmaceutical company focused on rare diseases, today announced the expansion of its United Kingdom (UK) presence and the appointment of Sarah O’Connell as UK Country Manager. The move strengthens Avanzanite’s long-term commitment to the UK and its ability to help eligible patients access innovative rare disease medicines.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261027035012/en/
“The UK is essential to our ambition of building Avanzanite into a European rare disease champion. We feel a deep and lasting connection to this market and there is no European reach without the UK,” said Adam Plich, co-founder and CEO, Avanzanite Bioscience. “At a time when parts of the life sciences sector are reassessing their investment and presence in the UK, we are choosing to commit and build for the long term. With Sarah’s extensive rare disease, market access and commercial leadership experience, we are strengthening the local capabilities and execution needed to ensure no patient in need is left behind.”
Sarah’s pharmaceutical career spans more than 25 years, including senior strategic roles at Amicus Therapeutics and Chiesi. At Amicus, she led a small, nimble team that achieved market leadership within the treatable population just eight months after launch.
“Scientific innovation is only the beginning; patient impact is the goal,” said Sarah O’Connell, UK Country Manager, Avanzanite Bioscience. “The UK combines exceptional scientific expertise with a health system capable of delivering innovation at scale, but turning that potential into patient impact requires partnership, innovative thinking, and disciplined Champions League-level execution. I am excited to build an agile UK organisation and work closely with the NHS, clinicians, and patient communities to help innovative rare disease medicines reach the people who need them.”
The UK expansion builds on Avanzanite’s existing team of 13 UK-based employees, including three executives. It is the latest step in Avanzanite’s rapid development of an integrated pan-European platform designed to turn Europe’s complexity into commercial opportunity. With Sarah’s appointment, Avanzanite’s “Champions League” team now includes more than 100 employees operating across 32 countries, including the European Economic Area, Switzerland and the UK. Together, these dedicated country teams and integrated capabilities support Avanzanite’s partners reach eligible patients, including in countries with challenging access landscapes as well as those in smaller and underserved markets.
About Avanzanite Bioscience
Avanzanite is a next-generation pharmaceutical company purpose-built to unlock the full potential of rare disease medicines across Europe. Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Avanzanite was created around a belief that scientific innovation creates patient impact only when medicines reach those who can benefit from them. Through tailored partnerships, biopharma innovators entrust Avanzanite with the European future of their medicines. Avanzanite combines pan-European expertise, bold commercial and access strategy, together with high-performance execution, to transform Europe's complexity into opportunity, ensuring no patient is left behind and creating lasting long-term value for partners.
For more information, visit www.avanzanite.com.
Sarah O'Connell, Country Manager, UK, Avanzanite Bioscience
Israelis were voting Tuesday in a tense national election widely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the wars that have since shaken the Middle East.
Israelis vote for parties, which then form alliances to create a majority coalition. No single party has ever won a 61-seat majority in the 120-member parliament, or Knesset.
Opinion polls suggest a tight race, with no clear winner expected, setting the stage for weeks or even months of negotiations among around a dozen parties expected to win seats in the Knesset.
Here is the latest:
As polls were starting to open on Tuesday, thousands of volunteer Israeli election observers were in place at polling stations across the country to monitor the election.
Eyal Sher said he volunteered this year with a civil society group called Elections Guards because he wanted to play a role in such a critical vote.
“We have a corrupt government that will do anything to stay in power," he said. "Every vote counts and we want to make sure the procedures are kept intact.”
Netanyahu has been Israel’s most dominant politician for nearly two decades, and a poor showing could end the 77-year-old’s lengthy career on a bitter note and open the door to a new era in Israeli politics.
A victory would cement his image as the ultimate political survivor. Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump backed Netanyahu's reelection, but the late endorsement still marked a setback for the Likud politician who had billed his tight ties to the Republican president as a selling point for staying in power.
Netanyahu has been a master at forming coalitions with religious and nationalist partners. But opinion polls now suggest a tight race between his bloc and the one led by his chief rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, which says Netanyahu should be held accountable for Oct. 7 and the failure to turn battlefield victories into diplomatic achievements.
The deadliest day in Israel’s history has featured prominently in the campaign, but there has been almost no debate over Israel’s wartime conduct in Gaza, which led to an international arrest warrant against Netanyahu.
Israel's occupation of much of southern Lebanon and parts of Syria, as well as its two wars launched against Iran, also has broad support among Israelis.
The candidates have instead focused on Netanyahu’s role in the security breakdown on Oct. 7; his efforts to exempt ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service and a 2023 judicial overhaul seen by critics as an assault on Israel’s democratic institutions.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, head of the Otzma Yehudit party, casts his vote during Israel's general elections in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Voters arrive at a polling station beside Likud campaign posters depicting Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump and a Democrats banner featuring Yair Golan during Israel's general election in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Voters cast their ballots at a polling station during Israel's general election in Jerusalem Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Voters line up to cast their ballots at a polling station during Israel's general election in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israeli settlers line up to vote at a school serving as a polling station during Israel's general election in the settlement of Kiryat Arba, in the occupied West Bank, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A pigeon flies past a Likud Party campaign billboard featuring U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with a Hebrew message reading, "We have one opportunity to win," in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Oct. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
People walk past a Likud party campaign billboard featuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alongside opposition party leaders and bearing the Hebrew slogan "Right or Palestine," ahead of Israel's general election, in Beni Brak, Israel, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A screen projects an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and his main rival, opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar ("Straight") party, during a campaign rally for Eisenkot ahead of Israel's general election, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
People walk past a Likud Party campaign billboard featuring U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with a Hebrew message reading, "We have one opportunity to win," in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Oct. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
