If the recent hantavirus outbreak wasn’t enough to keep public health officials busy, a new Ebola virus disease outbreak has been confirmed by authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. While sequencing is ongoing to identify the Ebola species, experts have noted early results suggesting it appears to be different from the Zaire species that has caused previous outbreaks, including the deadliest outbreak in West Africa a decade ago, meaning existing vaccines and antibody treatments likely will not be effective. Read More
Sonomind SAS raised €20 million (US$23 million) in a series A funding round for its ultrasound-based neuromodulation technology for depression. The funds will be used for clinical trials of the non-invasive device, which uses a custom-made acoustic lens to precisely target deep regions within the brain to bring relief to patients suffering from treatment-resistant depression.
In further fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU has now reached agreement on the Critical Medicines Act, which aims to boost European manufacturing capacity for drugs and their active ingredients, and enable member states to organize joint procurement to improve access to orphan drugs. Read More
Biopharma deal value through the first four months of 2026 reached $92.98 billion, outpacing every recent year and running well ahead of 2025’s strong $79.82 billion over the same period. January and February each cleared $30 billion, while March and April totaled $18.05 billion and $13.3 billion, respectively. Read More
Directed evolution has become a central pillar in gene therapy. This engineering strategy enables the generation of more efficient variants of genetic editors and delivery vectors. Molecular diversification methods are increasingly sophisticated and are now accelerated by machine learning and AI tools, as showcased at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) held in Boston this week. Read More
Temperature matters when determining pH levels. Whether that level should be measured at a standard room temperature or refrigerated matters even more, at least in Actelion Ltd.’s infringement litigation against Mylan Inc. According to Johnson & Johnson’s Actelion, the pH level in epoprostenol, the key ingredient in its hypertension drug Veletri, should be measured at a refrigerated temperature when it comes to Mylan’s generic formulation. Read More
The recent hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship has brought increased attention to an infection for which there are no widely available or FDA-approved therapeutics or vaccines, with limited research occurring only at the earliest stages. The rare Andes strain identified in the outbreak is known for human-to-human transmission, although the original infection comes from rodents. While hantavirus does not spread as easily as an infection like COVID-19, the mortality rate, at 30% to 40%, is significantly greater, and serves as another example as to why biopharmas must be at least two steps ahead with technology that can pivot to quickly address the spread of infectious diseases. Read BioWorld’s ongoing coverage of the current hantavirus outbreak. Read More
New hires and promotions in the biopharma and med-tech industries, including: Catalyst Orthoscience, Corbus, Create, Myomo, Oncusp, Organox, Owens & Minor, Pharmazz, Venus Concept. Read More
Clinical updates for biopharma and med tech, including data readouts and publications: Astrazeneca, Atamyo, Biogen, Cabaletta, Celcuity, Corvus, Endra Life Sciences, Galmed, In8bio, Medipost, Mira, Regenxbio, Senti, Shionogi, Tiziana, Vor. Read More
Biopharma and med-tech happenings, including deals and partnerships, and other news in brief: Aardvark, Ant Neuro, Apellis, Biogen, Edap, Innoviva, Kariya, Kurin, Magnolia Medical, Neuralight, Neuronetics, Telix. Read More
Regulatory snapshots for biopharma and med tech, including global submissions and approvals, and other regulatory decisions and designations: Alloplex, Beone, Clearpoint, Glooko, Inmune, Kyowa Kirin, Taiho, Taiho Oncology. Read More
