Medtech Insight spoke with Stephen Hahn, ex-FDA commissioner and CEO of Harbinger Health, who attended SXSW, about the firm’s blood-based cancer test in development.

The FDA Modernization Act 2.0 should make it easier for companies to gain regulatory authorization using non-traditional testing methods, like organs-on-a-chip. But biopharma will need to make the leap into technology to help build knowledge and data if the drug development world is to move away from animal testing entirely. 

As the usual flurry of deals coincides with the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, AbbVie signed an mRNA pact with Anima and a cancer research tie-up with Immunome.

Amgen has signed two big early-stage deals in a matter of days, signalling that antibody-drug conjugates are a priority target in oncology for the firm.