Scientists at the University of Aberdeen developed a new scanner that distinguishes breast tumor material from healthy tissue more accurately than current magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods.

Organox Ltd. raised $142 million in financing to accelerate the growth of its Metra platform that preserves and transport livers for transplantation. The funds will allow the company to strengthen its ability to support current customers, expand its customer base and enter new markets such as Canada and Australia, where it earned regulatory approvals within the last year, Steve Deitsch, CFO of Organox, told BioWorld.

Berlin Heals Holding AG recently raised over CHF7 million (US$7.8 million) in a financing round for C-MIC, a small implantable device it believes can reverse heart failure.

Roche Holding AG revealed plans to launch its sequencing by expansion technology next year, raising the possibility that rival Illumina Inc. could face a real run for its money. Illumina has long dominated the next-generation sequencing and clinical markets and another – potentially superior – high-throughput system on the horizon could put planned purchases on hold.

The longstanding ambition of developing an inhaled gene therapy for cystic fibrosis has taken a step forward, with the start of a phase I/II trial of a product using a novel pseudotyped viral vector that it is hoped will circumvent problems encountered in previous studies with other vectors.

EG 427 SAS has closed a €27 million (US$28.3 million) series B round, which will fund it to completion of the first clinical trial of the lead gene therapy program, opening the way for its herpes simplex viral-vectored products to be developed in a range of chronic neuro-urology disorders.

Boston Scientific Corp. recently received CE mark for its navigation-enabled Farawave Nav ablation catheter and Faraview mapping software to be used with its Farapulse pulsed field ablation (PFA) system. The technologies are expected to improve physicians’ understanding of patients’ atrial fibrillation to enable treatment using the Farapulse PFA system.

Med-tech companies focusing on cardiovascular diseases or neurological conditions, women’s health or robotic surgery, will find European investors willing to deploy capital into their stories. European venture capital firms are excited about the continuing innovation and opportunities in the sector.

Dealmaking in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region took off this week, with the latest showcasing Genome & Co.’s licensing deal with Ellipses Pharma Ltd. for GENA-104, a phase I-ready immuno-oncology asset, under undisclosed terms Feb. 11.

Germitec SA raised $30 million in a series B financing round to bring Chronos, its chemical-free, ultraviolet-C (UV-C)-based disinfection system for ultrasound probes, to the U.S. market.