It’s difficult to fathom that the health of half the world’s population is underserved. But it’s a hard truth. There are many conditions that disproportionately impact women. Other conditions and diseases affect women in different ways than men. Decades of research excluding women from clinical trials and investment decisions in male-dominated board rooms have ignored these facts. Though an increasing number of women are now managing investments and driving the research, it’s all still woefully behind. In BioWorld’s new report, Healing the health divide, we’ve highlighted the disparities.

Med-tech firms raised $22.71 billion in financings through October, an increase of 46% over the $15.59 billion raised during the same period in 2023. October’s value totaled $1.43 billion, up from $1.02 billion in September, but down from August's $3.67 billion.

While uncertainty often casts a shadow on the Street, U.S. investors welcomed the presidential and congressional election results with a late-night surge that carried into the morning Nov. 6. The Dow Jones peaked at 1,380.47 points early the day after, up 3.27% from Election Day itself and hitting its highest point of the year so far. The celebration extended to the biotech sector, with the BioWorld Index, which covers more than 500 companies, up 17.06% for the year, compared with a 12.28% increase for the year on Nov. 1.

The drug and device industries have a lot hinging on the results of the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential and congressional elections. Tax policies. The reach of the FTC. Legislation aimed at drug prices, competition, pharmacy benefit managers and lab-developed tests. Cabinet and agency appointments that could reshape Medicare drug negotiations, the 340B program, FDA Orange Book device patent listings, regulatory flexibility and Bayh-Dole march-ins. And that’s just the top of the list.

The Japanese government, industry and academia are deliberating health care policies and initiatives to boost Japan’s role in the future of regenerative medicine, experts at Bio Japan 2024 said, as the fruits of cell and gene therapy research come to fruition with new approvals.

During an Innovation Ignited webinar sponsored by Johnson & Johnson, experts talked about how precision medicine has helped advance the field of oncology and how those lessons can be applied to immunology. Advancements in precision medicine have helped oncologists know which drugs are most likely to help patients as their tumors advance and mutate.