Labcorp Holdings Inc. launched its new H5N1 bird flu molecular test for humans in the U.S. as an international outbreak of the disease continues to spread in cows and poultry – and people. As BioWorld reported recently, just one mutation would make the flu variant highly transmissible in humans.

Promise Bio Ltd. emerged from stealth with $8.3 million in seed investment for its precision medicine platform, which addresses immune-mediated diseases.

A gene therapy based on an enhanced lipid nanoparticle (LNP) loaded with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA could be developed for the treatment of preeclampsia, according to a study in mice in which it alleviated maternal hypertension until the end of gestation and improved fetal health. Preeclampsia is a disease that affects 3% to 5% of pregnant women, who suffer from hypertension and proteinuria, elevated levels of protein in the urine, during pregnancy.

Heartbeam Inc. received U.S. FDA 510(K) clearance for its portable, non-invasive electrocardiogram system that enables on-the-go recording of heart signals. The cable-free, credit card-sized device uses five electrodes to capture signals from three directions and can be used whenever a patient feels symptoms, overcoming the challenge of identifying intermittent arrhythmias, which are often not experienced during scheduled appointments, without requiring patients to wear a device continuously.