CAR-T treatments like Novartis’ Kymriah have proven effective in some B-cell-driven cancers, with one notable exception: chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, which pioneered the CAR-T technology that formed the backbone of Kymriah, are proposing a new method for overcoming CAR-T resistance in CLL.

One year after raising a modest £3 million round, Beckley Psytech scored £58 million ($80 million) to get two psychedelics-based programs through the clinic.

Abbott has received a new, broad approval from the FDA for its tiny heart plug implant to help cut down the risk of stroke among people with atrial fibrillation, the most common cardiac arrhythmia.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals’ gene therapy trial is back on track. With the FDA lifting the clinical hold after Rocket changed the study protocol, the biotech is now on course to start dosing children in the third quarter.

The clinical testing giant Labcorp has picked up Ovia Health, developer of a digital platform for tracking pregnancies and coaching new parents through infancy.

Nine-figure funding rounds are rare in the world of medtech—barely a dozen companies achieved the feat in 2020—but XtalPi, which has developed software that uses artificial intelligence to identify and model the most promising new drug compounds, just did it twice in one year.

In a matter of months, the specialty surgical robotics producer Memic leapt from an FDA green light to a $96 million funding round, and now to an acquisition agreement that promises to take the company public with a billion-dollar valuation.

Barrett’s esophagus is a complication of chronic heartburn and a known risk factor for esophageal cancer. Now scientists at the University of Cambridge have found a subtype of this cancer that always starts with Barrett’s—and unlocked the steps by which the transformation to cancer starts. They believe their findings could improve the early detection of esophageal cancer.

Many of the most groundbreaking discoveries have happened accidentally: The microwave oven, for one, was developed after physicist Percy Spencer noticed a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted while he was experimenting with a magnetron. Penicillin was born out of the bacteria-killing mold that grew on a petri dish while biologist Alexander Fleming was on vacation.

Though often overlooked, anxiety disorders are estimated to be three times more common in people with multiple sclerosis than the general population, and even more so in MS patients who also have depression, with about 50% of those patients experiencing anxiety.