Sanofi SA is getting deeper into oncology and immunology therapy development through buying Dren Bio Inc.’s myeloid cell engager for deep B-cell depletion, DR-0201. The deal could reach as high as $1.9 billion for privately held Dren. Sanofi is paying a hefty $600 million up front, and milestone payments to come could add up to $1.3 billion.

Researchers from The Ohio State University have filed for protection of Neurothread, a wire-type neurotransmitter-sensing platform that utilizes the cross-section of commercially available ultrathin microwires as microelectrodes.

The final U.S. Medicare national coverage determination for transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement (TTVR) devices comes with an expected coverage with evidence development mandate, but some analysts expect that TTVR devices will face competition from tricuspid transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (T-TEER) devices, the subject of an impending national coverage analysis.

The unrelenting pressure on medical practice in the U.S. has sparked some innovations, but a legislative innovation is now in the works that would fundamentally shift how at least some drugs are prescribed. The Healthy Technology Act of 2025 (H.R. 238) would allow AI and machine learning algorithms to write prescriptions for pharmaceuticals, although the lack of co-sponsors for H.R. 238 suggests that this bill is not ready for prime time just yet.

The politicization of the U.S. FTC continued March 18 with President Donald Trump firing the two remaining Democratic commissioners, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya. The action leaves what’s supposed to be a five-member bipartisan panel with just two members, both of whom are Republicans. The commission already was down one member, as former Chair Lina Khan’s term expired last year and Trump’s appointee, Mark Meador, is awaiting Senate confirmation with a vote expected yet this month.

The U.S. FDA has posted several class I recalls in recent days, including a removal of one model of the Medtronic Vascular’s Pipeline Vantage embolization device due to insufficient apposition to the vessel wall.

The U.S. FDA warning letter to Q’Apel Medical Inc., of Fremont, Calif., lists several deviations from the regulation, but the agency said the company’s Hippo device for is misbranded because Q’Apel had failed to file with the agency for changes to the device design.

New Zealand med-tech startup Avasa Ltd. has developed an arterial coupler that could save surgeons 30 minutes in the operating room to better connect arteries.