When an autoimmune disease disrupted the life of someone close to scientist Dario Gutierrez, an idea emerged for a new company called Merida Biosciences focused on removing misdirected antibodies and their negative effects using Fc biotherapeutics.
Boston Scientific Corp.’s up to $664 million acquisition of Bolt Medical Inc. closed just days after Bolt secured U.S. FDA 520(k) clearance for its intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) system, positioning Boston Sci to challenge Johnson & Johnson’s Shockwave IVL system, which has been the only player in the market.
The U.S. FDA has cleared regenerative medicine company Orthocell Ltd.’s 510(k) for its nerve repair product, Remplir, paving the way to begin commercial operations in the $1.6 billion U.S. nerve repair market.
Some say it’s not what you say but how you say it, but the U.S. FDA’s Feb. 10, 2025, warning letter to Denver-based Exer Labs Inc., makes clear that a 510(k)-exempt device can’t be altered and promoted for claims that are disallowed under the regulation.
As developers continue to search for better amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) therapies, Neurosense Therapeutics Ltd. turned up some hopeful findings from its phase IIb Paradigm trial with PrimeC. The drug, a combination therapy (ciprofloxacin and celecoxib) designed to target multiple ALS pathways, is having salutary effects on microRNA modulation (miRNA), Neurosense said, with the study showing a “profound and consistent” downregulation of 161 mature miRNAs across all time points in the double-blind period of the experiment.
Remegen Co. Ltd. emerged as a surprise challenger in the generalized myasthenia gravis space, unveiling positive phase III data of its China-approved lupus drug, telitacicept (RCT-18; Tai’ai), in the rare autoimmune neuromuscular disorder at the 2025 American Academy of Neurology conference.
The U.S. National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology (NSCEB) is urging Congress to reinvest in American biotechnology because “the U.S. is dangerously close to falling behind China,” according to a May 8 report. "The United States is locked in a competition with China that will define the coming century," said NSCEB Chair Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.). “Biotechnology is the next phase in that competition. It is no longer constrained to the realm of scientific achievement. It is now an imperative for national security, economic power and global influence.”
The on-again, off-again U.S. tariffs are off again, at least for now, for more than 75 countries that have reached out to the Trump administration to negotiate instead of retaliating. The 90-day pause will provide some breathing room for the med-tech industry. Pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients were among the few products exempted from the reciprocal tariffs, but that exemption for pharmaceuticals was expected to be short-lived. Meanwhile, pharma CEOs warned European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen April 8 that, unless the EU quickly changes its policy, pharmaceutical research, development and manufacturing is increasingly likely to be directed to the U.S.
In the wake of the pandemic, many leading med-tech companies took steps to on-shore and near-shore manufacturing, a move that could protect significant numbers of players from the worst of the effects of the tariffs announced by the Trump administration last week.
The April 8 Senate hearing on the Trump administration’s tariffs generated some heated debate, although U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer parried some of the criticism by pointing to the yawing trade deficit.
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