Even without an oracle, it is clear that Delfi Diagnostics Inc.’s $225 million series B fundraising round positions the company well to further develop its liquid biopsy tests for early cancer detection and monitoring. Delfi’s liquid biopsy platform uses a whole genome fragmentation analysis approach for both individual cancer and multicancer detection.

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has cleared Japan Tissue Engineering Co. Ltd.’s (J-Tec) autologous cultured cartilage, called Jacc, after a seven-year re-examination period. Headquartered in Gamagori, in Japan’s Aichi prefecture, J-Tec was the first company in Japan to receive conditional clearance of regenerative medicine therapies under the new regenerative medicine pathway.

Qiming Venture Partners has closed funds worth a total $3.2 billion for health care-related investments, with funds spread across the five areas of biopharmaceuticals, med tech, diagnostics, health care services and IT.

In this multipart special report, BioWorld explores the concept of extending lifespan, which is surprisingly well-validated by basic research. The team examined the latest science, the key biological drivers that can be targeted pharmacologically and the companies developing these potential “Fountain of Youth” candidate drugs.