Healthcare, Pharma & Life Sciences

Brussels – November 04, 2026 -- The head of Germany's pharmaceutical industry association BPI has said the EU is not prepared for a health crisis, calling European and national policy inadequate for the current geopolitical tensions.

BPI Chairman Oliver Kirst made the remarks at the association's autumn reception at the Bibliothèque Solvay in Brussels. He described the lack of crisis resilience as irresponsible and said EU action is too slow and too bureaucratic.

Critical Medicines Act still awaits formal adoption

Kirst named the Critical Medicines Act (CMA) as the prime example of EU hesitation. He called its aim of returning critical medicine production to Europe right and urgent. The act, he noted, has been debated for a long time and still has to be formally adopted.

Chairman lists open questions on production, storage and protection

Kirst said too many questions remain unanswered:

Singapore – November 04, 2026 -- The National University Health System (NUHS), Singtel and Ericsson have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to launch the National University XG AI Centre (NXAC), which the partners describe as the world's first 6G AI centre dedicated to healthcare and Singapore's first translational research and development centre.

Singtel and Ericsson become founding partners of NXAC

NUHS will provide clinical, academic and research leadership. Ericsson will contribute expertise in mobile network technologies, network architecture and future 6G research, while Singtel will supply advanced network deployment and services expertise.

NXAC will act as a testbed where industry partners work alongside clinicians, nurses and operations teams to develop and evaluate technologies in a working hospital. The programme starts on 5G and 5G-Advanced and is designed to evolve towards early 6G.

Ljubljana – November 04, 2026 -- Fotona has created a new Vice President, EMEA General Manager position and filled it with Miha Debelak, who took up the role on November 1, 2026 and reports directly to President and CEO Jeff Duchemin.

Debelak takes charge of direct entities and distributor markets across EMEA

Debelak will lead commercial operations across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. His remit covers both Fotona's direct entities and its distributor markets in the region.

The laser-based medical and aesthetic technology maker describes the post as newly created. It links the move to rising demand for its technologies across EMEA and to its long-term growth strategy.

Etoy, Switzerland – November 04, 2026 -- Sunstar, the Japanese-founded oral healthcare company, has launched the Sunstar Mouth-to-Body Health Institute, a global research body built to test how oral health affects disease elsewhere in the body, after more than 40 years of funding oral-systemic research.

Institute links dentistry, medicine and public health under one research platform

The Institute will bring together researchers, clinicians and scientific leaders from dentistry, medicine, microbiology, immunology, nutrition, behavioural science and public health. Its initial research covers periodontal health science, the oral microbiome and the connection between oral health and overall health.

A Global Scientific Advisory Board will provide scientific guidance and oversight, supported by Institute members from multiple disciplines.

GALWAY – November 03, 2026 -- Medtronic's Symplicity Spyral renal denervation (RDN) system cut office systolic blood pressure by 18.2 mmHg at six months in the SPYRAL AFFIRM post-approval study, with no increase in antihypertensive medication. The company also received U.S. FDA approval to update the device's labeling with additional clinical data.

SPYRAL AFFIRM data show significant reductions across three blood pressure measures

Six-month results in the U.S. primary endpoint cohort were compared with a prespecified performance goal. Against baseline, patients recorded the following changes, all at p<0.0001:

WASHINGTON – November 03, 2026 -- The President has signed the ACT for ALS reauthorization bill into law, extending the program for five years and committing up to an additional $500 million to ALS research infrastructure and investigational treatment access, according to patient advocacy group I AM ALS.

Senate passes bill by unanimous consent hours before the law expires

The Senate approved the reauthorization by unanimous consent with only hours left before the existing law lapsed. The House had already gone home early. The original ACT for ALS Act was co-authored by I AM ALS in 2021 to close a gap in access to investigational treatments.

Sponsors of the reauthorization are Senators Coons (D-DE) and Murkowski (R-AK) and Representatives Quigley (D-IL-05) and Calvert (R-CA-41). Calvert co-chairs the bipartisan ALS Caucus.

TORONTO – November 03, 2026 -- Cardiol Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CRDL; TSX: CRDL) has entered into an at-the-market program that lets it sell up to US$75 million of common shares through Jefferies LLC to fund late-stage cardiac drug development.

Cardiol restricts ATM share sales to U.S. trading venues

Shares will be sold in ordinary brokers' transactions on the Nasdaq Capital Market or other U.S. trading markets at prevailing market prices. No shares will be sold through the Toronto Stock Exchange or elsewhere in Canada.

Sales will proceed under a prospectus supplement dated November 3, 2026. The supplement attaches to Cardiol's Canadian and U.S. base shelf prospectuses, both dated September 15, 2026. The U.S. base prospectus forms part of a Form F-10 registration statement that became effective on September 16, 2026.

Philadelphia – November 03, 2026 -- Verismo Therapeutics' SynKIR-110 achieved the fastest tumor control among three CAR T designs in preclinical mesothelioma models while producing roughly 10-fold less IFNγ and 30-fold less TNFα and IL-2 than a CD28-based single-chain CAR T.

The company will present the data at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 41st Annual Meeting in Phoenix (Abstract 253). The study compared SynKIR-110 with CD28- and 4-1BB-based single-chain CAR T cells in mesothelioma xenograft models.

SynKIR-110 shows lower exhaustion markers than both single-chain comparators

Tumor-infiltrating SynKIR-110 CD8 T cells expressed fewer of the exhaustion markers TIM3, LAG3 and PD1 than cells from either single-chain design. In vitro data also showed reductions in T cell exhaustion, off-target proliferation and toxicity.

TOKYO – November 03, 2026 -- Japan's market for EMR-derived healthcare data is projected to grow from about ¥3.9 billion in 2025 to about ¥25 billion in 2035, according to a whitepaper from TXP Medical Co., Ltd. The report, "The State of Japanese Real-World Evidence," targets pharmaceutical Medical Affairs departments. It is the first publication from the company's relaunched "Medical Data Lab" media unit.

EMR data share to rise from 11% to 29% of Japan's secondary-use market

The overall market for secondary use of healthcare data is forecast to grow from about ¥35 billion in 2025 to about ¥85 billion in 2035. EMR-derived data is expected to climb from 11% of that market to 29% over the period.

MINNEAPOLIS – – November 03, 2026 -- Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ: TECH) will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share only if its pending transaction with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany has not closed by the close of business on November 13, 2026.

Dividend payable November 23 to holders of record on November 13

The Board of Directors declared the payout for the quarter ended September 30, 2026. Payment is due November 23, 2026, to all common shareholders of record at the close of business on November 13, 2026. The record date doubles as the deadline for the deal condition. If the Merck KGaA transaction closes on or before that date, the dividend will not be paid.

Board will review future dividends quarterly

The board said it will consider future cash dividends on a quarterly basis, as applicable. The company gave no commitment on payouts beyond the current declaration.