Sequana Medical NV received premarket approval from the U.S. FDA for its Alfapump system to treat recurrent or refractory ascites due to liver cirrhosis. Data from the Poseidon pivotal study showed the implantable device, which removes ascites from the abdomen into the bladder, can eliminate the need for therapeutic paracentesis, improving the quality of life of patients.

2024 was another banner year for GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) on multiple fronts. They continued to expand into new indications, and provide their developers with both rich remuneration and scientific acclamation. There are now seven approved GLP-1RAs. Commercially, the most successful one so far is semaglutide, sold under the brand name Wegovy or Ozempic depending on the indication.

Device makers doing business in the U.S. have had a much more stable regulatory regime than has been true for companies in other jurisdictions, but that will shift somewhat in 2025. Brynn Stanley of Gardner Law told BioWorld that manufacturers should get busy with the U.S. FDA-mandated do-over of their quality management systems as the compliance deadline of February 2026 does not generally permit procrastination.

When every hour’s delay in treatment increases the risk of death 8%, dialing down time to diagnosis takes on acute urgency for clinicians and regulators. When the disease being treated kills 20% of the global population and 33% of hospitalized patients in the U.S., the market opportunity attracts investors. And when the technology makes breakthroughs possible that cut the time to targeted treatment from days to hours or even minutes, the number of products in development explodes, as the keen competition in sepsis diagnostics covered by BioWorld in 2024 demonstrates.

AI pulled in major financings and approvals for Asia med-techs in 2024 as Asia Pacific countries played to individual strengths to maximize AI’s applications in the health care sector. While breakaway AI technologies like OpenAI’s ChatGPT reshaped and boosted many industries, AI also drove major financings for APAC med-techs weathering a wider macroeconomic downturn, with AI-based companies accounting for five out of 11 IPOs tracked on BioWorld’s med-tech IPOs list.