At the recent Precision Med-Tri Con conference, laboratory experts traded views on the expansion of at-home testing for disease diagnosis and personalized health insights. While strong consumer demand spells opportunity, there are significant concerns about the accuracy and reliability of home-testing platforms, misuse, accessibility, and lack of health literacy.

M&A edition: Mergers by Century/Clade, Eliem/Tenet, Kintara/TuHURA, Aditxt/Appili, Onconova/Traws and Apotex/Searchlight follow other companies joining forces in a tight cash environment.

Notable new drug approvals in South Korea last year included Pfizer’s Tukysa, Genentech’s Columvi and BeiGene’s Tevimbra, but the tally did not include any domestically-originated products. Alzheimer’s disease therapy lecanemab may be on the horizon this year.

Private Company Edition: Regeneron launched a $500m venture fund and Canaan added $100m, bringing the venture firm’s recent total to $1bn-plus. Also, incubators plan to grow over the next decade and in recent financings Avenzo raised $150m and Nvelop launched with $100m.