One Chinese biotech executive is entertaining hopes of China’s domestic market for novel drugs growing to CNY300bn ($41bn). However, the country’s public payer spent just CNY90bn on such products in 2023 and is expected to increase expenditure to more than CNY100bn this year.

Record attendance at the 2024 MedTech Forum in Vienna heard industry leaders voice optimism grounded in realism about future developments for Europe’s medtech industry, markets and delivery of care to patients. In Vivo filtered out 16 trends to watch.

Rising star Agnė Vaitkevičienė is juggling roles as the CEO of an emerging Lithuanian biotech, with work for a partner company, the national biotech trade association and much more. 

The ranks of B7-H3-targeting antibody-drug conjugates under development in China have seen their first dropout, although elsewhere there are two FGFR2b-directed ADCs with first-in-class potential on the horizon. Meanwhile, there have been other discontinuations of KRAS G12C inhibitors and anti-BCMA CAR-T cell therapies in the country, while new players have surfaced in the areas of mRNA cancer vaccines and amyloid-beta-targeting antibodies for Alzheimer’s disease.