While liquid biopsy is becoming routine for cancer treatment stratification and monitoring, using blood tests to screen for early cancer in asymptomatic people remains a tantalizing target. Some question how practical such a test could be but several companies are already en route - some further down the road than others - to achieve this goal. Illumina spin-out Grail is one of these companies and while it is not alone, in a field where size matters, it may have an advantage. This article delves deeper into how these different technologies work and when they could reach the market.

Chinese pharma and biotech grew increasingly active in deal-makings in the past months, with the largest outbound acquisition on record in April, a €1.3bn takeover deal made by Creat Group to German Biotest, while domestic big pharmas allotting investment to set up biologic divisions.

Recent executive-level company changes and promotions in the biopharma, medical device and diagnostics industries.

Epigenomics, RainDance, and Brightree name new leadership, and more personnel news from around the industry.