Latest Lab Talk news in Brief: Research funding, markets, new labs, appointments, awards

The research will investigate how menopause shapes heart health and support the launch of the largest clinical trial of its kind to detect silent changes in arteries, and test whether earlier prevention can stop or even reverse their progression. 

The SHE-HEALS study will be led by BHF professor Ziad Mallat at the University of Cambridge and professor Martha Hickey at the University of Melbourne, will use cutting edge techniques to discover the changes in arteries that start during perimenopause and drive increasing heart disease risk.  They will also investigate how age at menopause affects heart disease risk, and whether taking HRT impacts this risk. 

It is funded funded by a sub-group of the Global Cardiovascular Research Funders Forum (GCRFF), through its International Research Challenge on Women’s Cardiovascular Health.

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BSI has published a revised sixth edition of its standard for assessing the biological safety of medical devices,developed to bring scientific rigor and consistency to biocompatibility testing.

‘Biological evaluation of medical devices – Part 1: Requirements and general principles for the evaluation of biological safety within a risk management process (BS EN ISO 10993-1:2025)’ is intended to reflect advances in material science, toxicology, and risk management.

It includes application of risk management to medical devices (BS EN ISO 14971), enhanced guidance on exposure duration, device characterization, and biological hazard identification, and a new annex explaining the rationale behind the revised biological effects tables.

BS EN ISO 10993-1 provides the general principles for biological evaluation of medical devices within a risk management process. It guides manufacturers in determining which tests are evaluation is necessary based on the device’s nature, contact type, and duration, ensuring appropriate safety assessment while avoiding unnecessary testing.

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The National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB) has appointed industry leader Paul Walker as its new chair to succeed Sam Laidlaw.

Walker was CEO of online accountancy company SAGEfor 16 years and part of its founding team and has served on several FTSE company boards. He is currently chair of the FTSE top 10 company RELX, as well as US listed Ashtead.

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Use of antimicrobials - including antibiotics - in livestock peaked in 2013 and then dropped by nearly a third by 2020, finds a major new study led by UCL researchers. 

However, the study also found that richer developed countries continue to drive demand for antimicrobial-heavy products by importing large quantities of foods and products from emerging economies, that still use farm with high-levels of antimicrobials. 

The research, published in Nature Sustainability, is the most detailed analysis yet of how antimicrobials are used in farming and manufacturing worldwide - and how international trade spreads that impact. It looked at data from 2010 to 2020 to calculate each country’s ‘antimicrobial footprint,’” similar to a carbon footprint, showing how much is used to make the products.

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Newrotex, a clinical-stage biotech start-up developing innovative silk-based medical devices for nerve repair, has taken 1,680 sq ft (156 sq m) of manufacturing and R&D laboratory and office space at The Oxford Trust’s Wood Centre for Innovation in Headington, Oxford, for what it described as “a critical phase of clinical and operational scale-up”.

Founded by trauma and orthopaedic surgeon Dr Alex Woods from Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust and University of Oxford Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology & Musculoskeletal Sciences, and Professor Fritz Vollrath from University of Oxford’s department of biology, Newrotex has developed implantable silk-based medical devices designed to address long-gap peripheral nerve injuries - a significant need in reconstructive surgery. Its proprietary nerve repair devices use natural silk fibres produced by Golden Orb Weaver spiders under controlled GMP conditions in the laboratory.

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Leading cancer charities Breast Cancer Now and Prostate Cancer Research have joined forces to fund six new research projects to tackle the spread of breast and prostate cancer to the bones

Bone metastasis is particularly common with breast and prostate cancers, the most common types for men and women in the UK.

Annually 55,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 63,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK. About 80% of men who eventually die from prostate cancer, and 70% of women who die from breast cancer, have secondary tumours in their bones.

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Valley Diagnostics, a Welsh diagnostics company commercialising next-generation point-of-care lateral flow tests (LFTs), has signed several licencing agreements with its research partner and collaborator Aberystwyth University to bring to market innovative diagnostic tests that will revolutionise disease detection.

The agreements grant Valley Diagnostics exclusive global rights to patented-protected biomarkers in four application areas including prostate cancer, lung cancer, bovine tuberculosis (bTB), and paratuberculosis (paraTB), also known as Johne’s disease. Under the terms of the agreement, Valley Diagnostics will leverage its knowledge and expertise in commercialising healthcare products and digital technology to commercialise LFTs that can identify human and animal disease biomarkers, allowing for early detection and diagnosis of diseases.

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The BioIndustry Association (BIA), the UK trade association for innovative life sciences and biotech, has recognised the achievements of Dr Ruth McKernan CBE, neuroscientist, entrepreneur, investor and former Chair of the BIA Board, with the inaugural Chiswell Lifetime Achievement Award. 

She was recognised for her distinguished career in pharma, three-year stint as executive chair at Innovate UK and the multiple biotech companies she has cofounded, including Alchemab and AstronauTx. Her latest company, Draig Therapeutics, was recently featured in BIA’s UK biotech financing 2025 for its £107million funding round. 

The award honours the memory of former BIA board chair Dr David Chiswell, CEO at  biotechs Cambridge Antibody Technologies and Kymab. 

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A new tool developed by researchers at Hokkaido University, published in Science and Technology of Advanced Materials: Methods aims to provide researchers with a way to easily view and explore data about catalysts, enabling them to identify patterns and relationships in datasets without needing advanced programming or computational skills.

The tool uses catalyst gene profiling, where catalysts are represented as symbolic sequences. This makes it easier to interpret the data and apply sequence-based analysis methods.

“The system enables researchers to explore complex catalyst datasets, identify global trends, and recognise local features… without requiring advanced programming skills,” explains professor Keisuke Takahashi, who led the study.

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A compact, wearable ‘Patch and Go’ electrocardiogram (ECG) device will be rolled out by NHS Scotland, improving diagnosis and treatment for stroke patients, but also helping to monitor those with heart palpitations, dizziness, and other concerning symptoms.

A pilot programme beginning at the West of Scotland Innovation Centre at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) and running until November is expected to free up around 1,500 hospital bed days. Innovation specialist InnoScot Health says the programme would improve choice for Accident & Emergency or acute medicine patients.

Head of innovation Robert Rea said patients currently wait between six months and a year for an ECG test, followed by a further wait for results.

“Once fitted, a diagnostic test is completed within seven to 14 days, at which point the patient is given initial results, offering reassurance if no rhythm abnormalities have been detected, or the option to commence treatment if something has been picked up,” he added.

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Vortex Biotech Holdings Limited has announced the opening of its advanced laboratory facilities at Manchester Science Park. The new site significantly enhances the company’s R&D and commercial delivery capacity and strengthens its position as a leader in liquid biopsy technologies for precision oncology.

The laboratories are designed to GLP-ready specifications, allowing future expansion into clinical trial support and commercial product and services development. The site also serves as the company’s European hub for research partnerships, with planned collaborations in single-cell analysis, molecular profiling, and AI-driven data integration.

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The European Biosafety Network (EBN) has published a new white paper examining the critical role of closed-system disposal devices (CSDDs) and airtight sealing in protecting healthcare workers from exposure to Hazardous Medicinal Products (HMPs) during waste handling and disposal. Drawing on European legislation, regulatory guidance and international evidence, it can be viewed here.

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In support of the UAE’s Year of Community, global health firm M42 said it had delivered one of its most expansive years of public-health outreach in 2025. Throughout the past year, M42 and its network of assets delivered more than 500 community health activations across the UAE, including awareness campaigns, community events, preventive screenings and health checks, and digital education sessions impacting 40,000-plus people across the country.

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Pic (clockwise, top left): Newrotex; Robert Rea, InnoScot; NCUB; M42; EBN