The hot in vivo CAR T therapy space bubbled with news again as Johnson & Johnson (J&J) apparently forsook partner Legend Biotech Corp. and tapped Sail Biomedicines Inc. for a collaboration that will help advance the lead immune-mediated disease program as well as the broader platform technology, in a tie-up that brings incentives to expand the application of Sail's platform across more targets later.

Sail Biomedicines Inc. has established a strategic collaboration with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to advance innovative in vivo CAR T therapies for immune-mediated diseases.

The U.S. FDA granted Johnson & Johnson de novo authorization for its Ottava robotic surgical system, which can now be marketed for multiple surgeries, including Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, gastrectomy, cholecystectomy, splenectomy and others.

Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc.’s deal to buy Pacira Biosciences Inc.’s Iovera system for up to $140 million and Eurobio Scientific SA’s acquisition of Caredx Inc.’s lab products business for $171.2 million are symptomatic of a broader trend among med-tech and diagnostics companies using targeted acquisitions to strengthen specific areas of their portfolio.

Following an initial rebuff in February 2026, the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) is recommending approval of Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s Daybu (trofinetide) for treating neurobehavioral symptoms of Rett syndrome, after it took another look at the file.

Johnson & Johnson this week launched its dual-energy Thermocool Smarttouch SF platform in Europe bringing another option to physicians looking to enhance their electrophysiology procedures. The system combines radiofrequency (RF) and pulsed field ablation in one device to treat atrial fibrillation, entering what is becoming an increasingly crowded market for cardiac ablation technology.

In its largest acquisition to date, Incyte Inc. snagged rights to phase III-stage VGA-039, a monoclonal antibody the firm said could offer a new standard of care in von Willebrand disease (VWD), in a buyout of Vega Therapeutics Inc. that includes a $1.25 billion up-front payment and up to $750 million tied to the achievement of sales milestones. The announcement was followed shortly by news of another buyout, Johnson & Johnson’s deal to acquire Firefly Bio Inc. for $1 billion in cash, both moves continuing this year’s trend of larger, more strategic M&A transactions.

It looks like the end of the road for many of the court challenges to the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) provision requiring Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices. The U.S. Supreme Court denied cert May 18 to petitions brought by six biopharma companies that raised questions about the constitutionality of the negotiations. All but one of the suits involved were denied in the Third Circuit; the other one was denied in the Second Circuit, so there is no circuit split – yet.

Temperature matters when determining pH levels. Whether that level should be measured at a standard room temperature or refrigerated matters even more, at least in Actelion Ltd.’s infringement litigation against Mylan Inc. According to Johnson & Johnson’s Actelion, the pH level in epoprostenol, the key ingredient in its hypertension drug Veletri, should be measured at a refrigerated temperature when it comes to Mylan’s generic formulation.