News
A concise July 2026 selection of relevant developments across pharmaceuticals, medical devices, CRO innovation and the broader healthcare business landscape.
Open Serbian versionOn 6 July 2026, Novartis announced an agreement to acquire Myricx Bio and add its N-myristoyltransferase inhibitor payload platform for antibody-drug conjugates. The deal is relevant because it shows continued large-pharma appetite for differentiated oncology payload technology even at an earlier development stage.
Source: Novartis
Insilico Medicine announced on 2 July 2026 a strategic collaboration with Takeda to use its Pharma.AI platform across selected therapeutic areas. The agreement includes about $60 million in upfront and near-term payments and could reach approximately $600 million with milestones, reinforcing that AI-enabled discovery remains a real capital allocation theme in biopharma.
Source: Insilico Medicine
The FDA announced on 1 July 2026 that Casgevy received supplemental approval for patients aged 2 years and older with sickle cell disease with recurrent vaso-occlusive crises or transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia. The decision is notable because it extends a high-profile gene-editing therapy into a younger pediatric population and broadens the commercial and clinical relevance of the platform.
Source: FDA
On 17 July 2026, the FDA approved Lipfendra (enlicitide) as the first oral PCSK9 inhibitor for adults with hypercholesterolemia. The approval matters because PCSK9 therapy has until now been associated with injectable products, and an oral option could widen adoption in chronic cardiovascular management.
Source: FDA
The FDA announced on 22 July 2026 that Dexcom was selected as the first participant in the TEMPO pilot for digital health devices. The selection is important because it links digital health regulation, real-world evidence generation and the CMS ACCESS payment model in a way that could shape how chronic-disease technologies reach reimbursement-backed care settings.
American Industrial Partners completed its acquisition of Avanos Medical on 27 July 2026 in a transaction valued at approximately $1.272 billion. The move stands out as a July medtech portfolio transaction that may create room for sharper operational repositioning in pain management and related medical technology categories.
Sources: PR Newswire | Avanos
ICON announced on 28 July 2026 a multi-year collaboration with Anthropic to deploy AI capabilities across site intelligence, protocol optimization, predictive operations and client workflow integration. The announcement is one of the clearest July signals that large CROs are moving from AI experimentation toward production use cases inside trial delivery.
Source: ICON
Medpace reported on 22 July 2026 that second-quarter revenue rose 17.2% year over year to $707.3 million, while net new business awards increased 28.2% to $795.7 million, producing a 1.13x book-to-bill ratio. For the CRO market, that combination points to continued demand resilience in outsourced clinical development despite ongoing scrutiny on biotech funding efficiency.
Source: Medpace
CMS announced on 2 July 2026 a proposed rule for calendar year 2027 that would revise payment policies for hospital outpatient departments and ambulatory surgical centers. The proposal is relevant for healthcare business operators because it continues federal pressure on hospital reimbursement design and drug-cost management, including implications for 340B-related economics and outpatient pricing behavior.
Sources: CMS press release | CMS rule notice
Optum closed its acquisition of Alegeus Technologies on 2 July 2026, adding benefits administration capabilities across health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts, health reimbursement arrangements and COBRA. The transaction matters because it strengthens the infrastructure layer around how consumers save for, navigate and pay for healthcare, not just how care is delivered.
Source: Optum
