Every month, Katie Davis, our life sciences headhunter, publishes a round-up newsletter on LinkedIn for her 24,000+ subscribers. Each edition brings monthly updates on M&A, funding, partnerships and launches, plus exclusive Spotlights on the innovators to watch.
This is the August edition. AI featured heavily again, across drug discovery, clinical development and digital pathology. There was also plenty happening in single-cell and spatial biology, genomics, bioprocessing, clinical diagnostics and lab automation, alongside a strong run of regulatory milestones. The biggest deal of the month was McKesson's $2.25B agreement to acquire Precision Medicine Group.
Mergers and acquisitions
• McKesson: Agreed to acquire Precision Medicine Group for $2.25B, adding oncology-focused clinical research, biomarker, laboratory and commercialisation services to its Oncology & Multispecialty segment and expanding its capabilities across clinical trial execution and biopharma commercialisation.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific: Completed the $1.075B sale of its microbiology business to Astorg, transferring its antimicrobial susceptibility testing and culture media portfolio serving clinical, pharmaceutical and food safety laboratories.
• Gravity 360: Acquired Med-Lake Laboratory, a CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited high-complexity clinical laboratory serving Georgia, Alabama and neighbouring states, expanding Gravity's diagnostic footprint across the southeastern U.S. in toxicology, clinical chemistry, infectious disease PCR and reference testing.
• Xcellon Biologics: Signed an agreement to acquire NextCure's 40,000 sq. ft. GMP biologics manufacturing facility, expanding its CRDMO capabilities from discovery through clinical supply.
Partnerships and collaborations
Single cell and spatial biology
• Navinci × BrainZell: Initiated a feasibility collaboration combining Navinci's in situ Proximity Ligation Assay technology with human brain organoids to explore spatial protein interactions, post-translational modifications and pathway activity in more human-relevant CNS drug discovery models.
• Revolune: Launched Revolune's Service Provider Program, giving researchers and biopharma teams access to Revolune-powered multiplex immunofluorescence workflows through experienced service laboratories. The program launches with CellCarta, Concept Life Sciences and Propath UK.
Omics, research tools and bioprocessing
• Alamar Biosciences, Inc. × Alzheimer's Disease Data Initiative × Gates Ventures: Expanded their collaboration to profile 86,000 additional plasma samples with NULISAseq™ Neuro 220 for large-scale neurodegeneration research.
• Nabsys × Indiana University School of Medicine: Partnered to evaluate the OhmX™ Electronic Genome Mapping platform in AML, MDS and other haematological malignancies.
• Toxys Inc. × Mutagentech: Partnered to offer SMM-seq through Toxys' CRO services for high-sensitivity genetic toxicology and NAM-based testing.
• ChemoMetec × Roche Diagnostics USA: Partnered to connect Xcytomatic® 30 cell counting with Cedex® Bio bioprocess analytics in an integrated workflow.
• CellFiber × Tidewave Bio: Partnered to evaluate automated 3D cell culture for scalable manufacturing of Tidewave's allogeneic solid-tumour immunotherapy.
• 4basebio × Genezen: Expanded their collaboration to provide hpDNA for viral-vector development and manufacturing, from research through GMP.
• Charles River Laboratories × Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp: Partnered on virus seed-bank characterisation and validation for Medigen's next-generation enterovirus vaccine.
• Monod Bio × SignalChem Biotech Inc.: Licensed AI-designed LuxSit luciferase and NovoBody proteins for use in custom luminescent assays and protein-fusion services.
• HanchorBio Inc. × National Taiwan University / Taiwan Cancer Moonshot: Partnered to combine multi-omics and patient-derived data with HanchorBio's FBDB™ platform to support biomarker-driven immunotherapy development.
Data and AI
• Deepcell × Gilead Sciences: Partnered to develop a CHO cell morphology foundation model using Deepcell's REM-I single-cell imaging platform for earlier cell-line assessment.
• Cancer Research Horizons × Bioptimus: Partnered to use the S:CORT colorectal cancer dataset to develop and evaluate Bioptimus' biological AI models and STELA tissue atlas.
• Bruker × Atinary: Expanded their collaboration to integrate automation, analytical instruments and software into Atinary's agentic AI-powered Self-Driving Labs®.
• GenScript × Tamarind Bio: Partnered to connect AI molecular design with wet-lab validation, linking candidate generation with synthesis, expression and testing.
• Novo Nordisk × Amazon Web Services (AWS): Expanded their partnership around agentic AI and cloud technologies to support drug discovery, multimodal data integration and operational automation.
• Novo Nordisk × H1: Partnered to develop AI-powered clinical trial workflows supporting study design, site selection and enrolment.
• Chai Discovery × Bristol Myers Squibb: Partnered to apply AI molecular design models to therapeutic antibody discovery across BMS programmes.
• Schrödinger × Bristol Myers Squibb: Expanded their collaboration to deploy Bunsen, Schrödinger's agentic AI co-scientist, across BMS drug discovery research.
• Function Health × NYU Grossman School of Medicine: Partnered to combine longitudinal health and clinical data to develop AI models for earlier disease detection.
Clinical AI and digital diagnostics
• Stratipath × Aiforia Technologies: Partnered to integrate Stratipath Breast into Aiforia's digital pathology platform for AI-based breast cancer risk profiling.
• Nucleai × Gilead Sciences: Expanded their collaboration using AI-powered tissue analysis to identify spatial biomarkers supporting Gilead's ADC development programmes.
• OpenEvidence × OneOncology: Partnered to embed AI-powered clinical search and decision support into OneOncology's community oncology workflows.
• Imagene AI × Proscia: Partnered to integrate AI-powered pathology analysis with Proscia's Concentriq® platform for patient screening, biomarker analysis and companion diagnostics.
• Mission Therapeutics × NeuraLight: Partnered to use eye-movement-derived digital biomarkers in Mission's Parkinson's trial of MTX325.
Diagnostics
• Natera × Angiex Inc.: Partnered to use Signatera for serial ctDNA monitoring in Angiex's Phase I AGX101 solid-tumour trial.
• Pillar Biosciences Incorporated × LC-SCRUM-Asia × LSI Medience: Partnered to screen ~2,000 lung cancer patients in Japan using Pillar's oncoReveal® Essential+ cfDNA/cfRNA assay.
• Natera × Susan G. Komen: Partnered on breast cancer and MRD education, including patient awareness initiatives and 2026 event support.
• SOPHiA GENETICS × AstraZeneca: Partnered to develop and deploy two companion diagnostics for solid and haematological cancers.
• Natera × Kupando Therapeutics: Partnered to use Latitude for serial ctDNA monitoring in Kupando's Phase I KUP-101 trial.
• BioCytics Inc × LIDE Biotech: Partnered to develop screening and companion diagnostic models for immune-based cancer cell therapies.
• Cizzle Bio, Inc. × BioBridge Global: Partnered to validate and expand access to the CIZ1B lung cancer blood test in South Texas.
• Seek Labs × NAMRU EURAFCENT: Partnered to evaluate SeekIt™, an instrument-free molecular diagnostic for infectious disease detection in resource-limited settings.
• Amprion × MLM Medical Labs: Partnered to offer α-synuclein seed amplification testing for biopharma clinical trials in Europe.
Distribution and market access
• HealthTab × Abbott: Partnered to bring Abbott's Afinion™ 2 Analyzer into NHS-linked UK pharmacies for point-of-care HbA1c and lipid testing.
• Elephas × Neuberg Diagnostics: Partnered to bring Elephas' elive™ live-tissue immunotherapy response platform to India.
• Qlucore × BioTuring: Entered a reseller agreement for BioTuring's single-cell, spatial and AI bioinformatics platforms across Europe.
• Labcorp: Expanded nationwide access to two Roche diagnostics: VENTANA® PTEN RxDx for PTEN loss in prostate cancer and Elecsys® pTau217 for amyloid pathology assessment.
• Copia Scientific × HSE•AG: Entered a North American distribution agreement for on-deck DNA/RNA quantification and NGS QC tools.
• bioAffinity Technologies × AvMEDICAL: Partnered to expand CyPath® Lung into U.S. government healthcare channels.
Research consortia and studies
• Diaceutics PLC × Precision Cancer Consortium: Launched an NGS Concordance Study comparing up to 20 oncology NGS assays across U.S. laboratories.
• Olink, part of Thermo Fisher Scientific × The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research: Completed Olink Explore HT analysis of ~5,500 PPMI samples, creating a large Parkinson's proteomics resource for biomarker research.
• GeneDx × Seattle Children's: Published a study of rapid genome sequencing in 1,000+ paediatric inpatients, reporting a 35% overall diagnostic yield.
• Caris Life Sciences × NSABP Foundation Inc. / NRG Oncology × ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group: Validated a multimodal AI model for late recurrence risk in HR+ early breast cancer using 4,300 TAILORx samples.
• Caris Life Sciences × University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center: UNM joined the Caris Precision Oncology Alliance for molecular profiling, biomarker and translational research.
Product launches
Spatial biology and single cell
• DeepCyte: Launched DeeTox Atlas, a single-cell metabolomics reference atlas mapping toxicity responses across ~300,000 cells and ~100 compounds.
• Molecular Instruments: Expanded HCR™ Gold IF Encoder compatibility with additional rabbit, mouse and human IgG options for multiplex immunofluorescence.
• Genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics and genome editing
• biomodal: Launched Duet +modC Mosaic and Duet 6-base Mosaic, cfDNA multiomic assays combining genetic variation, methylation and fragmentomics from the same sample.
• MaxCyte, Inc.: Launched CHANGE-seq-BE and ONE-seq-BE through SeQure, expanding genome-wide off-target analysis to adenine and cytosine base editors.
• Broken String Biosciences: Launched BaseMap ABE in early access for genome-wide detection of adenine base editor off-target events.
• Human Longevity, Inc.: Launched Genomics for All, a 30× whole-genome sequencing service covering inherited disease risk, pharmacogenomics and carrier status.
• PacBio: Introduced SPRQ-Nx chemistry for Vega, increasing output to 90 Gb per run, lowering DNA input to 500 ng and cutting cost per Gb by ~40% versus V1.
• Integrated DNA Technologies: Expanded DNA synthesis capabilities to support low-yield, high-diversity oligonucleotides alongside high-yield, high-fidelity production.
Proteomics, cell analysis and analytical technologies
• bit.bio: Launched ioScreen, an industrial-scale CRISPR screening service using human iPSC-derived cells for target validation, pathway analysis and disease modelling.
• Slingshot Biosciences: Launched ViaComp Ultra XT and ViaComp® Ultra Amine, synthetic cell-mimic controls for compensation, spectral unmixing and viability workflows in flow cytometry.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific: Introduced Orbitrap™ Isora™ and Isora Pro, its first Orbitrap mass spectrometers with dedicated molecular-level isotope-ratio analysis.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific: Introduced EMPAD™ G2, a high-speed 4D STEM detector for quantitative structural, chemical and atomic-scale materials analysis.
• Sino Biological, Inc.: Launched recombinant human p-Tau217 protein with selective Thr217 phosphorylation for Alzheimer's biomarker assay and antibody development.
• SynGenSys Limited: Introduced CHO.SET® 2.0, an expanded synthetic promoter library for CHO protein production, with selected promoters delivering >4× higher antibody productivity.
Lab automation, sample prep and workflow tools
• Pillar Biosciences Incorporated × Hamilton: Released an automated library-prep workflow for the OncoReveal Nexus NGS panel on Hamilton STAR and STARlet systems.
• QIAGEN: Launched QIAsymphony Connect, automating nucleic acid extraction for up to 96 samples across four independent batches.
• INTEGRA Biosciences: Launched MAGFLO NGS magnetic beads for NGS size selection, PCR cleanup and long-read sequencing workflows.
• New England Biolabs: Launched the Monarch Mag Cell-Free RNA Extraction Kit for isolating circulating RNA from plasma, serum, urine and CSF.
• Telesis Bio: Expanded adoption of Gibson SOLA®, bringing automated on-premises DNA synthesis into closed-loop AI drug discovery workflows.
Lab infrastructure and manufacturing
• NTx Bio × Baylor College of Medicine: NTxscribe® CORE is being used to manufacture personalised tumour mRNA for a Phase I dendritic-cell vaccine trial.
• London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute (LHSCRI): Established Canada's first paediatric Olink-certified laboratory for high-plex proteomics research.
• NueCell Bio: Launched as a cell therapy development services company spanning cell engineering, process development, analytics and GMP readiness.
Software and informatics
• EMIT Imaging: Launched EMIT Viewer and Viewer Pro, software for viewing, sharing and analysing Cryo-Fluorescence Tomography data.
• NAMina Bio Corp: Launched NAMina Program Builder™, a platform for designing human-relevant preclinical programmes across models, multi-omics readouts and analytical workflows.
• Network Bio: Launched a multimodal biological AI platform and biobank research network for building disease-focused, AI-ready datasets and models.
• Flatiron Health: Expanded its NSCLC Panoramic dataset with specimen-level biomarker data covering 345,000+ patients.
• ARUP Laboratories: Added Cyclospora positivity data to its U.S. infectious disease surveillance dashboard.
• Sanyou Biopharmaceuticals: Launched Clicklinks, an AI-powered collaboration platform for drug discovery and preclinical development.
• SandboxAQ: Launched AQPotency, an AI model for predicting molecule–target potency and prioritising drug candidates.
Diagnostics and clinical testing: neurology and Alzheimer's disease
• Quest Diagnostics: Expanded AD-Detect®, with plans to add Roche's Elecsys® pTau217 alongside a new multi-biomarker Alzheimer's evaluation.
Diagnostics and clinical testing: oncology and MRD
• 4baseCare: Launched TARGT Indiegene V2, a 2,206-gene comprehensive genomic profiling assay incorporating MSI, TMB, HRD, CNVs and fusion detection.
• LabPMM GmbH: Launched digital PCR KMT2A MRD testing for AML and ALL, with reported sensitivity down to 0.005%.
Diagnostics and clinical testing: genetic and prenatal testing
• OGT: Launched IVDR-certified CytoCell prenatal FISH kits for rapid detection of common chromosomal aneuploidies.
• GeneDx: Launched direct online access to paediatric exome testing in the U.S. for developmental delay, intellectual disability and epilepsy.
Diagnostics and clinical testing: infectious disease
• Roche × TIB MOLBIOL: Launched two RUO PCR assays for Cyclospora, including standalone and multiplex gastrointestinal parasite formats.
• Claryx: Emerged from stealth, launching CloneLink, a genomic surveillance platform for tracing hospital-acquired infection transmission and potential reservoirs.
Regulatory approvals and certifications
• Roche: FDA approval expanded for PATHWAY HER2 and VENTANA HER2 Dual ISH in HER2+ metastatic gastroesophageal cancer.
• Proscia: FDA 510(k) clearance expanded Concentriq® AP-Dx to include Leica Aperio GT 450 DX compatibility and cloud deployment.
• C2N Diagnostics: FDA clearance for PrecivityAD2®, a blood test assessing amyloid pathology in symptomatic adults.
• NeoGenomics Laboratories: Expanded MolDX Medicare coverage for RaDaR® ST to include immunotherapy response monitoring in late-stage solid tumours.
• Labcorp: FDA approval for PGDx elio® tissue complete CDx to identify BRAF V600E/K-positive advanced melanoma.
• Freenome: FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for SimpleScreen™ Lung, its investigational blood-based lung cancer screening test.
• QIAGEN: FDA clearance for QIAstat-Dx BCID GPF Plus AMR, its first U.S. bloodstream infection panel.
• Leica Biosystems: Multiple FDA 510(k) clearances for its Aperio digital pathology portfolio, including AI-assisted image quality control.
• BGI Genomics: CE-IVDR certification for NIFTY® NIPT, its non-invasive prenatal testing solution.
• Roche × Eli Lilly and Company: FDA clearance for Elecsys® pTau217, a blood test supporting assessment of Alzheimer's-associated amyloid pathology.
• Hematogenix: Its multiple myeloma MRD assay was referenced in the FDA label supporting approval of BMS' ZENBEXUS™.
• ZEISS Group: FDA 510(k) clearance for ZEISS CLINIC 360, its cloud-based ophthalmology data and workflow platform.
