The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has declared its opposition to a proposed merger between Cochlear Ltd. And Oticon Medical A/S, two of the prime movers in the bone conduction implant space.

The European Society of Hypertension (ESH) has recommended that renal denervation (RDN) be offered as an adjunctive therapy to patients with resistant hypertension. Releasing new and updated guidelines on the management of arterial hypertension, the ESH said recent randomized controlled trials showed that endovascular RDN can be associated with a significant, albeit not marked, office and ambulatory blood pressure reduction in patients with uncontrolled hypertension.

Vesalius Biocapital Partners Sàrl has called a first close on its fourth fund at €95 million (US$103 million) and now is targeting a total of €150 million, with new investors to be accepted on a "rolling closing" basis until the final close in 2024.

Isotope Technologies Munich SE (ITM) raised $280 million to support the expansion of its broad targeted radionuclide therapies oncology pipeline. This equity investment round was led by Temasek holdings Pte Ltd. with participation from Blackrock Alternatives, Qatar Investment Authority, Nextech Invest Ltd., Athos KG and Carbyne Equity Partners GmbH.

The U.K. government created a new £21 million ($US26.55 million) fund to accelerate the roll out of artificial intelligence (AI) diagnostics and treatment tools across the NHS. The AI Diagnostic Fund will enable hospitals to bid for funding to speed up the deployment of the most promising AI imaging and decision support tools to help patients with cancers, strokes and heart conditions.

Scientists in the U.K. have reacted with dismay to the announcement that the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) is to close, 22 years after it was set up to coordinate the efforts of industry, government research agencies and medical charities that sponsor and fund clinical trials.

The U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has undertaken a public consultation for a series of proposed changes to its procedures for evaluating medical devices and other medical technologies that could speed up these reviews. This new process would require a less time-consuming approach to evaluating lower-risk technologies that would not only turn around such evaluations more rapidly but would also leave more resources available for higher-risk products that would also enjoy a timelier review, thus potentially accelerating adoption of all these products in the National Health System.

The imaging and advanced guidance for workflow optimization in interventional oncology consortium (IMAGIO) consortium of clinical partners in the EU, led by Royal Philips NV, has been awarded $26 million under the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) to carry out research into less invasive cancer therapies.

Stephanix SAS and Incepto Medical SAS reported signing a strategic partnership at the annual congress of the French association for female medical imaging (SIFEM) in Bordeaux. The companies are joining forces by way of a distribution agreement to improve the medical imaging available in France.