The pilot version of the U.S. FDA’s advisory program for breakthrough medical device life cycle management was initially limited to cardiovascular devices, but the agency has announced an expansion into other product areas. Going forward, orthopedic, radiological and ophthalmic devices will be eligible for the FDA’s Total Life Cycle Advisory Program, which will aid applicants in obtaining both faster and more trouble-free market access.

Serac Imaging Systems Ltd. is seeing encouraging results from ongoing trials at three sites, which are comparing its Seracam portable hybrid gamma-optical camera for medical imaging to standard of care nuclear medicine imaging, Mark Rosser, CEO of the company, told BioWorld.

The years’ long effort by activist investor Politan Capital Management LP to take control of the Masimo Corp. board of directors and oust Masimo CEO and founder Joe Kiani took a turn for the weird this week as news emerged that Masimo Chief Operating Officer Bilal Muhsin notified the board that he would step down if Kiani were pushed out.

Less than a month after the U.S. FDA’s Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee handed down a unanimous vote in favor of Eli Lilly and Co.’s Alzheimer’s disease candidate (AD), donanemab, the agency approved the drug as a once-monthly injection for adults with early symptomatic disease. Branded Kisunla, the beta-amyloid antagonist marks the second approved AD drug that has demonstrated in clinical trials an ability to slow cognitive decline, going up against Leqembi (lecanemab) from Biogen Inc. and Eisai Co. Ltd., which won full approval in July 2023, only six months after nabbing an accelerated nod.

Confidence in working with Chinese biopharma companies has dropped by 30% to 50% for U.S.-based life sciences companies, with Chinese contract development and manufacturing organizations the hardest hit, according to a recent LEK survey of global life sciences companies on the impact of the pending U.S. Biosecure Act.

The problems with U.S. Medicare coverage for medical software are well known, but the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recently indicated that these problems are largely manageable for services delivered via managed care plans.

The U.S. FDA granted Signum Surgical Ltd. de novo marketing clearance for its Biohealx technology as a treatment for anal fistula. Biohealx is a single use, bioabsorbable implant, designed to not only to treat the condition in a minimally invasive procedure but also promote healing, prevent fistula recurrence and protect patient continence.

Tracon Pharmaceuticals Inc. is shuttering all development of its subcutaneous PD-L1 antibody, envafolimab, after the pivotal trial failed to meet the primary endpoint in soft tissue sarcoma.