LONDON – Sosei Heptares is to get $100 million up front in a potential $2.6 billion deal with Neurocrine Biosciences Inc., in which the pair will develop muscarinic receptor agonists in the treatment of schizophrenia, dementia and other neuropsychiatric disorders. San Diego-based Neurocrine is taking rights to a portfolio of small molecules against specific subtypes of the muscarinic receptor family, targeting M1 and M4 alone, plus a dual M1/M4 agonist.

Pulse Medical Imaging Technology Co. Ltd.’s latest trial showed its quantitative flow ratio (QFR) guidance provided a 35% risk reduction in the one-year rate of major adverse cardiac events, compared to standard angiography guidance. QFR, developed by Pulse, could be used to guide the strategy and optimization of percutaneous coronary intervention.

Lunit Inc. has won FDA approvals for the company’s breast cancer detection product Lunit Insight MMG and the triage and notification software Lunit Insight CXR Triage, only days apart. Lunit Insight MMG is an artificial intelligence (AI) product for breast cancer detection from mammography images. Lunit’s second approval is for Lunit Insight CXR Triage, its AI-powered chest X-ray triaging product.

Voronoi Inc. licensed global rights to its monopolar spindle1 (MPS1) inhibitor, VRN-08, and a second undisclosed asset to Pyramid Biosciences Inc. in a deal worth up $846 million that preserves Voronoi’s rights to both assets in South Korea.

Shanghai Aohua Photoelectricity Endoscope Co. Ltd. was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange Star Market in China on Nov. 15, with the share prices jumping 71.16% on the first day. Aohua Endoscopy offered 33.34 million shares at ¥22.5 (US$3.53) per share. It raised ¥750 million in this IPO, higher than projected ¥640 million it projected to raise.

Assure Tech (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd. made its debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange Star Market and raised ¥1.2 billion (US$188 million) in the IPO. Its shares increased 19.28% in the middle of the first trading day but closed 6.73% lower the second day.

Vuno Inc. has received its third breakthrough device designation from South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), for its artificial intelligence (AI)-based electrocardiogram (ECG) analysis software Vuno Med DeepECG. Vuno is the first company to have three such designations to its name. “We developed Vuno Med DeepECG via long-term ECG data analysis research. With this breakthrough designation, we target expanding our market share in the medical AI industry via our bio-signal businesses. Among these is ECG data, which can help diagnose various heart diseases and has high potential,” Yeha Lee, chairman at Vuno, told BioWorld.

PERTH, Australia – Medical device stakeholders generally opposed the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s (TGA) proposal to refine regulation of devices that consist of substances introduced into the human body via a body orifice or applied to the skin. The agency received 45 comments, 17 of which came from medical device manufacturers or associations representing device manufacturers or sponsors, and most of those comments did not support the proposal to refine the regulations.

Peking Jabrehoo Med Tech Co. Ltd.’s genetic testing kit won marketing approval from China’s NMPA. It is the first preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) that uses the reversible termination sequencing method in China, according to the company.