The saga of Illumina Inc.’s attempt to reacquire Grail Inc., seems to have come to an end with a capitulation to market regulatory authorities, but Illumina has chosen to spin off Menlo Park, Calif,-based Grail rather than sell the company outright.

The €1.5 million ($US1.63 million) in pre-seed funding recently raised by En Carta Diagnostics SA is “key” for the company to be able to develop its point-of-care molecular diagnostics kits and generate clinical data, Guillaume Horreard, CEO at En Carta told BioWorld.

Astrazeneca plc’s blockbuster Enhertu continued to garner attention as new data released at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting show the antibody-drug conjugate demonstrated strong progression-free survival in metastatic breast cancer patients. Puma Biotechnology Inc. had advances of its own at ASCO with new biomarker findings from a phase II study of alisertib, an aurora protein kinase 2 inhibitor, in endocrine-resistant metastatic breast cancer.

The U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recent recommendation that selective internal radiation therapy could be used to treat neuroendocrine tumors that have metastasized to the liver is a boon for patients suffering from the disease. However, there is not yet a clear pathway for these patients to receive the therapy via the national health service.

Urteste S.A. has developed a urine-based diagnostic test for the early detection of brain tumors. The prototype, which can detect the activity of brain-specific enzymes in urine, is a breakthrough test and the first solution of this type in the world, Grzegorz Stefański, CEO and co-founder of Urteste S.A., told BioWorld.

The European Council formally approved another delay for the In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation implementation, which now gives developers of existing high-risk in vitro diagnostics until December 2027 to obtain a renewed CE mark.

The American Clinical Laboratory Association has followed through on its promise to file suit against the U.S. FDA over the agency’s final rule for lab-developed tests. The lawsuit will be heard in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, which is also the venue for litigation against another federal government agency, the Federal Trade Commission, suggesting that litigants expect a favorable review of their case in this court.

A little over two months after the granting of its very first patent which described computer-based systems for diagnosing psoriasis, Belletorus Corp. welcomed the publication of two continuation-in-part child filings on similar such systems for the diagnosis of eczema and determining the severity of skin diseases such as psoriasis, eczema and skin cancer.

Oncohost Ltd. provided new details on a novel application for its proteomic pattern analysis technology at Biomed Israel last week. While its initial development focused on using a single blood sample to guide selection of first-line immunotherapy for cancer based on likelihood of response, the Prophet platform now also predicts severe adverse immune-related events, Oncohost CEO Ofer Sharon told BioWorld.

Researchers affiliated with the U.K.’s University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust filed for protection of a device for treating simple or complex anal or rectovaginal fistulas which is less invasive and more effective than existing treatments. The device combines a bioresorbable scaffold to heal the fistula and a thin comfortable seton to achieve drainage.