Scientists in Europe have added their voices to the many thousands of objections made against proposed changes to the oversight of U.S. federal research grants, under which political appointees and not peer review experts would have the final say on who and what gets funding. The concern is that awarding grants based on the principle that research proposals must be in keeping with President Donald Trump’s policy priorities poses a threat to open scientific inquiry and academic freedom, and also will undermine international research collaboration. While governments determine high level national priorities and set the research budget, they should do so respecting established scientific knowledge and “be guided by evidence rather than political or ideological preference,” said Paul Nurse, Nobel prize winning biologist and president of the U.K.’s Royal Society.

Med-tech funding outlook improves as dealmaking accelerates

An increase in the level of M&A activity and some sizeable financing rounds are encouraging signs for the med-tech investment environment, said Joey Mason, Life Sciences Venture Partner at Claret Capital Partners. He pointed to Medtronic plc’s acquisition of SPR Therapeutics Inc., and Neurent Medical’s large fundraise earlier in year, as evidence of the improving sentiment. “People always ask, ‘when will it get better?’ The short answer is when it stops getting worse,” Mason told BioWorld. “And it stopped getting worse quite a while ago. And you're seeing a fairly decent bit of M&A activity, and if I'm looking for signs that the market improving, it's M&A and then some decent-sized financings, like the one we’ve seen with Neurent.”

Parabilis tops Kailera as biopharma IPOs surge to best H1 since 2021

Biopharma IPO activity through the first two quarters of 2026 totaled $5.77 billion, the strongest first-half showing since 2021's $13.49 billion. Parabilis Medicines Inc. priced the sector's highest IPO on record at $670 million, surpassing the mark set just two months earlier by Kailera Therapeutics Inc.

Agios quits efforts with tebapivat in SCD after phase II results

Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc. has ended work with next-generation oral PK activator tebapivat in sickle cell disease (SCD) after top-line phase II data failed to justify continuing. The study was set up to characterize the dose-response relationship of the drug in SCD and figure out whether its profile is “meaningfully differentiated relative to other PK activators,” Cambridge, Mass.-based Agios said. Shares (NASDAQ:AGIO) dipped to $36.37 on the news but recovered and were trading at $38.38, down $1.69.

US-based Axiom plans Hong Kong listing

Axiom Biosciences, rebranded from Cytonus Therapeutics Inc. in June 2026, plans to be one of the first U.S. biotechs to IPO on the main board of the Hong Kong stock exchange. The San Diego-based company is preparing audits as the first step to a potential IPO in 2027. Meanwhile, Axiom is ramping up to start multiple clinical trials of its umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cell therapy for the treatment of intraventricular hemorrhage and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in newborns and ischemic stroke in adults with its partner, South Korea-based Medinno Inc.

Bipartisan health bills get passing vote from US House

In a rapid-fire voting session late yesterday, the U.S. House suspended the rules to pass a slate of bipartisan health bills ranging from reducing animal testing in drug development to Medicare coverage of wheelchairs. The question now is whether the Senate will have the bipartisan will to pass the House bills before its scheduled Dec. 18 end of the legislative year. In the meantime, both the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee are queuing up more health-related bills to send to the floor for passage.

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