The Apple Watch may be able to alert wearers to heart palpitations, but Google LLC’s Pixel Watch 3 can now detect when a user’s heart stops – and call emergency services. The pulse detection featured received clearance from the U.S. FDA on Feb. 26 and Google plans to make it available on its Pixel Watch 3 starting in March. Pulse detection is already available for watches sold in the U.K. and EU.

The map of cystic fibrosis (CF) research is being redrawn in the U.K. as improvements in treatment, and in particular the introduction of CF modulator drugs, mean people with the rare inherited disease are living much longer.

Regenerative medicine company Mesoblast Ltd. is preparing to launch its allogeneic bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapy, Ryoncil, (remestemcel-L), in March in the U.S. and has priced the treatment at roughly $1.55 million for a full course.

The map of cystic fibrosis (CF) research is being redrawn in the U.K. as improvements in treatment, and in particular the introduction of CF modulator drugs, mean people with the rare inherited disease are living much longer.

In a flurry of news releases on Feb. 27, Teleflex Inc. reported plans to buy the vascular intervention business of Biotronik SE & Co. for €760 million (US$791 million), said it intended to split into two separate public companies, floated a $300 million accelerated share repurchase program and reported the impending retirement of Chief Financial Officer Thomas Powell. The news sent the company stock down more than 20%.

Reflecting a positive reception in the market, Kestra Medical Technologies Ltd. increased the target haul for its planned IPO from $100 million to between $140 million and $160 million in an S-1 amendment filed Feb. 26. The company will offer 10 million shares at $14 to $16 per share, with the final price to be set the week of Mar. 3, just ahead of the offering date.

Several Asia biotechs this week – including Innocare Pharma Ltd., Akeso Pharmaceuticals Inc., Sanbio Co. Ltd. and Ascletis Pharma Inc. – unveiled the start of new late-stage clinical trials or interim findings from early stage studies.

As Wall Street looks ahead to phase III data due soon with Mineralys Therapeutics Inc.’s lorundrostat for uncontrolled or resistant hypertension, analysts are also weighing the odds of the firm in phase II with the same compound for obstructive sleep apnea.

Pannexin 1 (Panx1) is a high-conductance, voltage-sensitive ion channels that exhibit flexible gating behavior upon activation, enabling the passage of ions such as Ca2+, Na⁺, K⁺, and ATP. Panx1 is expressed in cardiac tissue, but its role in ATP release and electrophysiological processes affecting cardiac function is not fully understood. Researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center have found that in isolated ventricular cardiomyocytes, Panx1 activation during spontaneous sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release amplified the NCX-driven transient inward current.

Berlin Heals Holding AG recently raised over CHF7 million (US$7.8 million) in a financing round for C-MIC, a small implantable device it believes can reverse heart failure.