Healthcare, Pharma & Life Sciences

PHOENIX – October 29, 2026 -- Dr. Jason Patterson of OrthoArizona is the first surgeon worldwide to perform total ankle replacement with Stryker's Prophecy Incompass patient-specific instrumentation, completing three procedures in July 2026.

Prophecy builds a 3D-printed surgical guide from the patient's CT scan

The system uses each patient's own CT scan to produce a custom 3D-printed guide before surgery begins. Paired with Stryker's Incompass total ankle system, it lets surgeons switch between stemmed and pegged implants mid-procedure if the exposed joint anatomy requires it.

Patterson has used CT-guided, patient-specific instrumentation for ankle replacement since 2015. He said the latest generation makes implant placement more consistent and surgery more efficient. In his words, the technology lets him plan around a specific patient's anatomy "instead of relying on a generic template."

DALLAS – October 29, 2026 -- Nanoscope Therapeutics will field four executives across six sessions at Advanced Therapies USA 2026 in Boston on November 4-5, as its optogenetic gene therapy MOGENRY (sonpiretigene isteparvovec; MCO-010) awaits decisions from the U.S. FDA and Japan's PMDA. The conference, held at the Hynes Convention Center, brings together cell and gene therapy developers, manufacturers, investors and commercial leaders.

SAN MATEO – October 29, 2026 -- Astrosalva Therapeutics, a privately held preclinical biotech, has launched with Unravel Biosciences as its founding development partner to pursue treatments for Alexander disease and the cerebral form of adrenoleukodystrophy (cALD). Unravel co-founder and CEO Richard Novak, PhD, has joined Astrosalva's board of directors.

Astrosalva widens its focus from Alexander disease to cALD

Both conditions are rare genetic diseases affecting the brain's white matter. In children, cALD can progress rapidly and often leads to total disability within a few years. MedlinePlus puts the prevalence of X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy, the genetic condition behind cALD, at 1 in 15,000 people worldwide. Ionis Pharmaceuticals estimates that Alexander disease affects about 1 in 1 to 3 million people worldwide.

SYDNEY – October 29, 2026 -- Kazia Therapeutics (NASDAQ: KZIA) will put its CEO and its head of corporate strategy in front of investors at the Guggenheim 3rd Annual Healthcare Innovation Conference in Boston on November 9, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. EST.

Fireside chat features CEO John Friend and strategy head Jeffrey Kraws

John Friend, MD, Chief Executive Officer, and Jeffrey Kraws, Head of Corporate Strategy & Development, will take part in a fireside chat on the conference's opening day. The conference runs November 9 to 11, 2026, in Boston, Massachusetts. A live webcast of the session will be available.

Paxalisib carries multiple FDA designations across brain tumor indications

Kazia's lead asset, paxalisib, is an investigational oral, brain-penetrant dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor. It is in development for central nervous system cancers, advanced breast cancer and colorectal cancer. In the U.S., it holds the following FDA designations:

PEEKSKILL – – October 29, 2026 -- Eric J. Dalton, Vice President & Visionary of Angels on Call Homecare, has won Healthcare Visionary of the Year in the 2026 IE100 Global Awards, his second consecutive title after the 2025 recognition.

Angels on Call becomes first U.S. homecare provider with CPDC accreditation

Since Dalton's first award, the New York-based provider has built out its clinical credentials in neurological care. It is the first U.S. homecare provider to earn Certified Parkinson Disease Care (CPDC) accreditation. It is also the only homecare provider that pairs CPDC with the Parkinson's Foundation's Community Partners in Parkinson's Care (CPPC) designation.

Santa Clarita – October 29, 2026 -- SetPoint Medical has treated its first patient in Boston with the SetPoint System, extending the only FDA-approved neuroimmune modulation therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to adults across New England.

Beth Israel Deaconess surgeon performs first Boston implant

Joshua P. Aronson, M.D., a functional neurosurgeon at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), performed the procedure. He described it as an outpatient intervention that opens a different treatment pathway for RA patients.

The system includes a small implantable neurostimulator that delivers targeted stimulation to the left vagus nerve. The stimulation activates the body's innate anti-inflammatory pathways to regulate the immune activity associated with RA.

COPENHAGEN – October 29, 2026 -- HERVolution Therapeutics ApS published peer-reviewed data in the Journal of Translational Medicine showing HERV-K expression across the majority of 43 cancer types in RNA sequencing data from 1,353 patients, backing the target rationale for its lead program, IPT-001.

HERV-K expression spans nearly all cancer types examined

The analysis used data from the Copenhagen Prospective Personalized Oncology study (CoPPO, NCT02290522), which enrolled patients with advanced, predominantly pre-treated cancer. Most patients showed more than 100 HML-2 reads per million total reads across the 43 cancer types, cancers of unknown primary and unclassified tumors. The authors say this extends earlier indication-specific reports.

BOSTON – October 29, 2026 -- TransCode Therapeutics (Nasdaq: RNAZ) has opened a formal strategic process that could end in a sale or licensing of its oncology assets, a partnership or a business combination, with lead candidate TTX-MC138 now in Phase 2a development.

Tungsten Advisors to run the process as exclusive financial advisor

The Board of Directors initiated the review to maximize the value of the company and its oncology portfolio. Options include licensing or selling individual assets, development and commercialization partnerships, portfolio transactions and business combinations. TransCode has engaged Tungsten Advisors as exclusive strategic financial advisor.

CEO and Chairman Philippe P. Calais said the process is meant to support continued development of TTX-MC138 while seeking to maximize value for stockholders.

TAMPA – October 29, 2026 -- John Couris, president and CEO of Florida Health Sciences Center | Tampa General Hospital (TGH), earned a place on Florida Trend's 2026 "Florida 500" list for the sixth consecutive year, and four other TGH-linked leaders joined him on the list.

The other honorees are Board Chair Blake Casper (CEO of Caspers Company), Vice Chair and Corporate Secretary Gregory Celestan (president of Celestar, LLC), and Immediate Past Board and Governance Chair Drew Graham (managing partner of Ballast Point Ventures). Jennifer Crabtree, president of the Tampa Medical & Research District (TMRD) and a TGH senior vice president, is the fifth. The list covers more than 60 business categories. Florida Trend editors select honorees through independent research and interviews, and advertising plays no role.

HONG KONG – October 29, 2026 -- Ascletis Pharma (HKEX: 1672) reported that its oral small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist ASC30 cut HbA1c by a placebo-adjusted 1.7% at the 40 mg dose, 1.6% at 60 mg and 1.7% at 80 mg in a U.S. Phase II study in type 2 diabetes. The 13-week trial (NCT07321678) met its primary endpoint and all secondary endpoints, the company said.

ASC30 delivers placebo-adjusted weight loss of up to 4.4% with no plateau

Placebo-adjusted body weight reductions at 13 weeks were 4.4% (40 mg, n=20), 3.8% (60 mg, n=29) and 4.0% (80 mg, n=28). No weight plateau was observed. Baseline average body weight was 93.7 kg. The weight results were statistically significant versus placebo (p = 0.001 to 0.003).