Martin Makary, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the U.S. FDA, took his turn before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee March 6, a week ahead of the committee’s confirmation votes on both him and Jay Bhattacharya as the next NIH director. The committee votes will set the stage for the full Senate to vote on confirming both nominees later this month.

Insilico Medicine founder and CEO Alex Zhavoronkov told BioWorld that he tries to spend as much time as possible in China, because that's where the artificial intelligence (AI) drug development company conducts synthesis and tests for early stage discovery. “And nowadays, not a day goes by without somebody launching an AI drug discovery company,” he said, noting that Chinese AI company Deepseek could be a huge disrupter.

The first treatment for macular telangiectasia type 2 is set to enter the market following U.S. FDA approval of NT-501 (revakinagene taroretcel) from Neurotech Pharmaceuticals Inc., a privately held company that has been quietly advancing its encapsulated cell therapy platform for more than two decades.

4C Medical Technologies Inc. raised $175 million in a series D financing round led by Boston Scientific Corp. The financing will support the regulatory trials and commercialization of the Altavalve system, a transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) technology.

Repligen Corp. acquired 908 Devices Inc.’s desktop portfolio of four devices for bioprocessing process analytical technology (PAT) applications for $70 million in cash.

Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)-focused Callio Therapeutics debuted on March 3 with the closing of a $187 million series A financing round based on cancer drug technology and assets in-licensed from Hummingbird Bioscience Pte Ltd.

Rusfertide could become a blockbuster therapy for polycythemia vera, H.C. Wainwright analyst Douglas Tsao wrote March 4 after the injectable hepcidin mimetic peptide hit its primary endpoint and all four key secondary endpoints in the ongoing phase III Verify study.

Jay Bhattacharya will have his work cut out for him if he wins confirmation as the next director of the U.S. NIH. Besides getting NIH committees back on track to evaluate grant applications and calming the fears of researchers and other staff who have seen about 1,200 colleagues cut from their ranks in recent weeks, Bhattacharya will face the task of rebuilding public trust in the NIH itself.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc is buying Chimerix Inc. for $8.55 a share in cash, bringing the deal in at about $935 million. Jazz expands its cancer pipeline with the new acquisition’s lead candidate, dordaviprone, a small molecule for treating a rare, aggressive glioma that’s often found in children and young adults.

In an advance that could significantly lighten the load for caretakers in the “sandwich generation” and reduce loneliness in elderly patients, Aspargo Labs Inc. developed a metered delivery device that optimizes absorption of pharmaceuticals and reminds users to take their medications.