Merck KGaA is partnering with Neuroloop GmbH, a subsidiary of B. Braun SE, to develop a neurostimulator device that can complement existing drug therapies for people with chronic inflammatory diseases. The collaboration aims to adapt Neuroloop’s neurostimulation platform to enable targeted treatment of chronic inflammatory ailments. The new bioelectronics program intends to open up new technologies and markets that are close to Merck’s electronics and health care business sectors.

Princeton University spinout Neutigers Inc. is launching a study to explore the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and everyday wearables to flag early symptoms of sickle cell anemia vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) before they get worse and land patients in the hospital. The aim is to reduce deaths and facilitate interventions to address the entire continuum of care for patients with the inherited red blood cell disorder, Adel Laoui, founder and CEO, told BioWorld.

Adela snapped up $60 million in a series A financing round to commercialize its blood test for cancer detection and disease monitoring. At the same time, the company announced its name change from Dnamx Inc. The Adela system profiles all methylated DNA fragments in a blood sample, allowing it to determine the tissue of origin early in development of a malignancy and potentially simplifying screening across all cancer types.

Immvira Group Co. presented positive phase I data for MVR-T3011 as an intratumoral administration at the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, drawing attention to oncolytic viruses developed by Chinese scientists.

Immvira Group Co. presented positive phase I data for MVR-T3011 as an intratumoral administration (MVR-T3011 IT) at the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting this month, drawing attention to oncolytic viruses developed by Chinese scientists.

LONDON – Newco Amyl Therapeutics Ltd. has raised €18.3 million (US$22.3 million) in a series A, to pick up the baton on a technology for neutralizing toxic protein aggregates by binding to their amyloid folds.

Lev Becker spent about six years studying how to release neutrophile elastase from human neutrophils so it could select cancer cell types that need killing and ignore non-cancer cells. That research eventually led to a recent publication in Cell and the launch of Onchilles Pharma Inc.

LONDON – In a sizeable seed round for a U.K. biotech, Transine Therapeutics Ltd. has raised £9.1 million (US$12.9 million) to take forward a novel method for up-regulating endogenous protein production using a naturally occurring class of long noncoding RNAs.

PERTH, Australia – Emvision Medical Devices Ltd.’s stroke helmet could potentially transform care for stroke patients by treating them at the bedside or before they even get to the hospital. The company’s portable, non-ionizing brain scanner is capable of rapidly producing quality images to help paramedics determine if a stroke is ischemic or hemorrhagic.

Startup Aplife Biotech is tapping into the rapidly growing market for biosensors that can expand the capacity of hand-held devices to screen for thousands of pathologies from a single drop of blood. Using technology developed in Argentina to print DNA structures on microchips, the company’s goal is to screen as many as 20 million probes with the potential to convert molecular interactions into electrical signals, opening a path for med-tech developers and manufacturers to explore new solutions for personalized health care.