South Korean researchers led by Lee In-suk of Yonsei University have reported the most complete oral microbiome catalog to date, with more than 72,000 genomes. Detailed in Cell Host & Microbe on Nov. 12, 2025, the database is expected to serve as a universal platform for academia and enable “precision microbiome medicine” for the industry, Lee told BioWorld.

SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. and Eurofarma Laboratórios SA launched a new joint venture called Mentis Care Inc. Oct. 21, dedicated to developing an AI-powered platform for epilepsy management.

China’s National Medical Products Administration is arguably more active than regulatory agencies in many nations in advancing guidance for AI in medical technology, but Chang-Hong Whitney, President/CEO of Whitney Consulting Ltd., told BioWorld that the premarket review process still carries some unpredictability.

The U.S. FDA’s decision to phase out animal testing for INDs is driving a new market of alternative, nonanimal testing technologies like organoids and organs-on-a-chip, speakers at Bio Korea 2025 said.

Several Asia biotechs this week – including Innocare Pharma Ltd., Akeso Pharmaceuticals Inc., Sanbio Co. Ltd. and Ascletis Pharma Inc. – unveiled the start of new late-stage clinical trials or interim findings from early stage studies.

South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it released the world’s first guideline on reviewing and approving generative artificial intelligence-based medical devices Jan. 24, to help establish standards on the technology’s applications in the medical field.

An international consortium of thousands of scientists is creating the Human Cell Atlas, a three-dimensional map of all the cells in the body. The goal is to understand all the cells that make up human tissues, organs and systems, which will enable multiple medical applications. This collection of cell maps is openly available for navigation at single-cell resolution, identified through omics analyses that reveal the tridimensional distribution of each cell.

David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper share the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their contributions to the science of protein structure. David Baker was awarded half the prize “for computational protein design,” according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Hassabis and Jumper shared the other half “for protein structure prediction.”

Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region for health care spending, and by 2030 APAC will account for more than 20% of global health care spending, Tom Lawry, managing director of Second Century Tech told the APACMed Forum 2024 conference held in Singapore, Sept 5-6.