Good morning ! 

Welcome to the first edition of the Pulse Check.

The Daily Check-up

EchoIQ (ASX:EIQ | MC: $149M) completes its clinical validation study with the Mayo Clinic on its AI Heart Disease detection program. Across 17,000 echograms EIQ achieves a sensitivity of 99.5% and specificity of 91.0%. FDA 510(k) submission next. (EIQ)

Cynata Therapeutics (ASX:CYP | MC: $60M) completes the final patient visit in its Phase 3 study on treating osteoarthritis with stem cells. Results of the trial are scheduled to be released in Q2 next year. (CYP)

Island Pharmaceuticals (ASX:ILA | MC: $132M) joins the Medical Countermeasures Coalition to position its antiviral drug Galidesivir for US Government strategic national stockpiling. (ILA)

Pro Medicus (ASX:PME | MC: $26.3B) signs three cloud-based medical imaging contracts worth minimum A$29M, lifting FY26 1H minimum TCV to A$273M. (PME)

PYC Therapeutics (ASX:PYC | MC: $805M) receives approval from the Safety Review Committee to escalate dosing in its Phase 1a/1b trial for Polycystic Kidney Disease. (PYC)

Proteomics International (ASX:PIQ | MC: $53M) publishes new performance data in thoroughbred racehorses. Horses that raced with oxidative stress (as measured by PIQ’s OxiDx test) were 76% more likely to place. (PIQ)

🪑Should have known this before the Melbourne Spring Carnival started… 

CSL (ASX:CSL | MC: $88B) director Dr Brian Daniels buys US$100K of stock on market. (CSL)

The FDA introduced a new approval pathway called the "Plausible Mechanism Pathway" to expedite development and approval of therapies for ultra-rare conditions. (Arnold & Porter)

M&A, Big Pharma Wants a Wife

Monash IVF (ASX:MVF | MC: $237.68M) rejects the $0.80/share non-binding takeover offer from Genesis Capital and Soul Patts, valuing IVF and fertility services at 7.7x FY25 EBITDA. (MVF) 

🪑The deal was speculated on last night by the AFR. It looks like Genesis Capital made an opportunistic play at the company after two high profile embryo mix-ups caused some weakness in the share price - including one where a patient unknowingly gave birth to someone else's baby. (AFR) 

Halda Therapeutics secures US$3 billion buyout from Johnson & Johnson for its portfolio of anticancer induced-proximity drugs. ​​(Nature)

GE Healthcare is set to acquire medical imaging company Intelerad for US$2.3 billion, as GE looks to expand into outpatient care markets. (Reuters)

Morgan Stanley has been hired to find a buyer for the privately held Australia’s Everlight Radiology. The asking price is north of $1 billion. (AFR)

Cash Injection

Chimeric Therapeutics (ASX:CHM | MC: $9M) receives $4.5M from its R&D tax incentive refund. (CHM)  

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health has set aside $100M to develop objective measures for mental and behavioural health (Psychedelic Alpha) 

UK pension funds are now backing a £200 million initial fund to scale UK life-changing medical technology and advanced manufacturing (Gov.UK)

Statistically Significant

Eli Lilly becomes the first $1 trillion biotech company (Biopharma Dive)

Under the Microscope

Patrys (ASX:PAB | MC: $12M) enters ASX trading halt pending announcement on a proposed acquisition asset. (PAB)

🪑 It looks like Anton Uvarov and Brian Leedman are teaming up again on PAB after the success of BlinkLab (ASX:BB1).

Anton moved into a substantial holder position in September, and Brian moved on to the board earlier this month.

Blinklab has had a 177% share price appreciation over the last 12-months, so it will be interesting to see what new asset PAB acquires.

The Deep Dive

The biotech sector is set to reawaken in 2026 - policy clarity, breakthrough data and a surge in M&A (Livewire)

🪑 If you want to be bullish on biotech stocks for 2026 this is the article to read.

ASX biotech IPOs: 10-year performance and outlook (Bioshares)

See you tomorrow.

Jason Segal
The Armchair Analyst

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*All market cap figures are taken from Market Index website.