Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings Inc. agreed to purchase select assets of Bioreference Health from Opko Health Inc. for $237.5 million in a deal slated to close in the second half of 2024. The transaction could be the start of a buying spree for the country’s second-largest independent laboratory testing service provider, as Labcorp management has laid out an acquisition strategy that focuses on higher-growth areas, particularly reproductive and women’s health.

Serac Healthcare Ltd.’s imaging agent, 99m Tc-maraciclatide, enables visualization of early-stage endometriosis, preliminary data from a study presented last week at the Society for Reproductive Investigation conference in Vancouver demonstrated. With millions of women suffering from the debilitating condition globally, maraciclatide has the potential to not only help with diagnosis but also with the development of new therapeutics, David Hail, CEO of Serac, told BioWorld.

Asieris Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd plans to submit a China NDA in the second quarter following positive phase III data for its cold light photodynamic drug-device combination product, Cevira, which is used as nonsurgical therapy for treating high-grade cervical dysplasia.

Aska Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Aska Pharmaceutical Holdings Co. Ltd., and Red Arrow Therapeutics Inc. have signed a joint research agreement to develop a new treatment for preeclampsia using advanced nanotechnology.

The U.S. FDA granted Edap Tms SA breakthrough device designation for its Focal One system to treat deep infiltrating rectal endometriosis. The company believes that the Focal One high intensity focused ultrasound technology can offer relief to the thousands of women suffering from the debilitating condition.

Claudin-6 (CLDN6) is highly expressed in several cancer types, including ovarian and endometrial cancers, while very low or no expression is found in normal tissues.

Researchers from Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) are seeking patent protection for a transcervical delivery device that may provide clinicians with a simple, inexpensive office-based procedure for the assessment of tubal patency or delivery of a permanent contraceptive agent to the fallopian tube.

About 75% of patients with ovarian cancer are diagnosed with advanced disease. It is hence of high importance to explore reliable biomarkers and their mechanisms during pathology. Growing evidence exists regarding long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) as regulatory factors in several cellular processes.

Pearsanta Inc., a subsidiary of Aditxt Inc. formed in Feb. 2023, acquired MDNA Life Sciences Inc. for $25 million in stock, marking Aditxt’s second deal announced in a month. The company moved into the women’s health market with the $100 million planned acquisition of Evofem Biosciences Inc., maker of the contraceptive gel Phexxi, which it reported on Dec. 12. The deals show boldness on the part of Aditxt’s management team as the company just announced it regained compliance with Nasdaq’s continued listing rule for minimum stockholder’s equity on Jan. 2.