Flesh-eating bacteria sound like something an enterprising science fiction author would dream up, but they are, in fact, real—and the infections they cause can lead to disfigurement, loss of limbs and even death.

The FDA has torpedoed Actinium Pharmaceuticals’ hopes of winning a blood cancer approval based on existing data. With the agency requesting an additional head-to-head randomized clinical trial, Actinium is planning to try to partner the program and switch its attention to other candidates.

Johnson & Johnson MedTech has secured an FDA 510(k) clearance for its first robotically guided platform for spine surgery and has slated its commercial launch for the first half of next year.

Galapagos has paused enrollment in a trial of a BCMA-directed CAR-T cell therapy, pumping the brakes in response to an adverse event also seen in recipients of Bristol Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson’s rival drugs.

Vertex’s attempt to treat a rare genetic disease has hit another setback. The biotech tossed two more drug candidates onto the discard pile in response to underwhelming data but, following a playbook that has worked in other settings, plans to use the missteps to inform the next wave of preclinical prospects.

Earlier this year, Paige raised the curtain and spotlighted new artificial intelligence models for digital cancer pathology. Now, the company is offering a peek behind the curtain by making versions of two of its programs open-source.

As biotechs attempt to turn a fresh page in August, at least three companies have shed staff in attempts to forge on.

While Biogen’s pharma peers are hunting for late-stage assets with little risk, CEO Chris Viehbacher wants to bring in more early-stage medicines, arguing that there’s more shareholder value to be had the earlier a company can get in.

Biogen has handed back rights to an early Alzheimer’s disease program to Denali Therapeutics, leaving a large hole in the biotech’s collaboration revenue stream.

Another of Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ key midphase readouts has fallen short of expectations, prompting the biotech to stop studying the Roche-partnered candidate in an advanced form of age-related macular degeneration.