There have been three oncology drug approvals by the U.S. FDA over the last few years that were based solely on a genetic biomarker, rather than the location in the body where the tumor originated. But to make this tissue-agnostic approach a reality for oncology patients, detecting those genetic biomarkers will have to become increasingly easy and standardized.

The recent progress in interventional cardiology has largely been driven by the aortic valve, although calcification of the aortic root has proven a difficult hurdle to overcome. A newly published study demonstrates that the Tendyne device by Abbott Vascular Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., can be readily used not just to treat failing mitral valves, but works well in these patients with severe calcification, an achievement that could quickly vault the transcatheter approach past conventional surgical approaches in this population.

Abbott Laboratories has kicked off a pivotal study to evaluate its catheter-based Triclip transcatheter tricuspid valve repair system in patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR). The first enrollments in the U.S. FDA-approved Triluminate study were performed at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis by a cardiac team led by Paul Sorajja, director of the Center for Valve and Structural Heart Disease at the Minneapolis Heart Institute and co-primary investigator for the trial.

In late June, when Pfizer Inc. unveiled the first phase Ib data, mixed safety signal and all, for its Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene therapy, PF-06939926, investors in Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. as well as Solid Biosciences Inc. watched with particular interest. The latter firm seems none the worse for wear, though, raising $60 million in a private placement.

Deep learning algorithms developed at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) were able to distinguish prostate, skin and breast cancer with nearly perfect accuracy in a recent clinical trial. The technology has already been licensed exclusively by New York-based startup Paige.AI, which snapped up a $25 million series A early last year to continue to advance it.

Boston startup Beta Bionics Inc. is headed into a pair of ambitious pivotal trials in 2020: one starting for an autonomous bionic pancreas device with insulin only and another to follow for a bihormonal version that also includes glucagon. These are expected to offer more precise, easy-to-use blood glucose maintenance for type 1 diabetes patients.

NEW ORLEANS – The Apple Heart study has accumulated data from more than 400,000 participants in its evaluation of the ability of an algorithm to detect abnormalities that may be indicative of atrial fibrillation (AF), although the enrollment came up short of the target of half a million users. Nonetheless, Mintu Turakhia, a cardiologist at Stanford, Calif.-based Stanford University, said that while the study has some significant limitations, "we now have a footprint for evaluating technology such as this, and how to do this in an appropriate and scalable way."