A look back at our top stories of 2024 sees them fall into two major themes: promise, and a realignment of expectations. Some illustrate the potential of new, rising technologies—with artificial intelligence playing a major role, as ever—while others chronicled the falls of not only companies, but some major changes in the ways of doing business.
Our most-read story of the year came in May, with the once high-flying Cue Health ultimately shutting down its operations, letting go of its staff and filing for bankruptcy. The testmaker had once provided portable COVID-19 screeners to the likes of the NBA, MLB and the Department of Defense, with hundreds of millions in contracts—but as the pandemic receded from the public’s memory, so did sales, and the company was unable to pivot toward offering a broader menu of at-home diagnostics.
The former Fierce 15 winner had once counted as many as 1,500 global employees and logged a $200 million IPO in 2021, however, by late 2023, Cue’s share price had slid into penny-stock territory. And after facing pressure from investors and rounds of layoffs, the possible final straw came as the FDA handed the company a warning letter saying its tests had been altered and their accuracy compromised. The agency urged any customers who still had Cue’s products to throw them away.
Coming in at number two was news of NanoString’s Chapter 11 filing in February, following the loss of a patent infringement lawsuit last year to 10x Genomics, with an order to pay $31 million in damages. NanoString’s analyzer assets found a new home at the auction-winning Bruker, which put down a $392.6 million bid. By October, Bruker had spooled up NanoString and other purchases into a new spatial biology division.
Story number three marks a milestone in an FDA pilot program to greenlight innovative tools for use in drug development. The agency accepted its first AI-powered program, with Deliberate AI’s machine learning-powered assessment for tracking the severity of anxiety and depression—marking a potentially data-driven alternative to the more subjective and time-consuming evaluation process. The FDA said the technology was feasible for use in clinical trials, but it would still need to complete additional steps in a qualification process.
Our fourth piece follows Ginkgo Bioworks at a high point—the synthetic biology company had penned three separate acquisition deals following the unveiling of a technology network spanning more than 25 of its partners. The shopping list included a CRISPR test developer co-founded by Harvard and MIT’s Feng Zhang; an AI-powered designer of therapeutic cargos for genetic medicine platforms; and an AI-based small molecule discovery outfit. But just four months later came story number eight on our list: Ginkgo’s announcement of plans to lay off 400, or more than a third of its workers, after setting a goal of cutting operating expenses by $200 million in a 12-month period.
Halfway down lies Roche’s unveiling of its AI-powered continuous glucose monitoring system, the Accu-Chek SmartGuide, designed to help users with diabetes predict highs and lows in their blood sugar, from 30 minutes out to two hours in advance. Roche set its sights on a CE Mark approval in Europe for the 14-day wearable sensor, for people with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes.
At number six we find Medtronic’s reversal of its plans to sell off its patient monitoring and respiratory divisions—instead opting to merge them into a single enterprise dubbed acute care and monitoring. However, one unit did not make the cut: the company said it would exit the hospital ventilator business, which it called “increasingly unprofitable.” It was the home of the Puritan Bennett brand, with hardware that, at one point, couldn’t be built fast enough to meet demand at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a subsequent interview with Fierce Medtech, Medtronic’s ACM chief Frank Chan said the synergies between airway protection and patient safety still offered a lot of value to the medtech mothership.
Our seventh story comes courtesy of Know Labs and the finalization of the design of its non-invasive glucose sensor. The KnowU needle-free device sends radio waves through the skin to help estimate blood sugar levels, potentially worn on the wrist or under an adhesive patch. This year also saw the company deliver positive proof-of-concept data for the system, with its accuracy measuring up to 93.37% compared to blood drawn from the veins of people with Type 2 diabetes.
Story number nine concerns another continuous, glucose-monitoring wearable, Dexcom’s over-the-counter Stelo, as it went on sale for the first time this past August. Designed for adults who are not taking insulin, it has been pitched as a more health-focused consumer device, or as a cash-pay entry point for people with Type 2 diabetes and prediabetes looking to try their first CGM system. More recently, Dexcom has rolled out generative AI-powered lifestyle tips for Stelo users, with weekly recommendations on diet, sleep and exercise.
And rounding out the list, our tenth most-read story of the year follows Invitae’s bankruptcy and preparations for sale. In February, the genetic testing company came to its decision following 18 months of realigning its portfolio—including the sale of its reproductive health tests to Natera, and the divestment of its Citizen platform, which has recently been reborn as the AI platform builder Citizen Health. Ultimately, in April, Labcorp swooped in to buy “substantially all” of Invitae’s assets, for $239 million through a court-supervised auction—a purchase the clinical testing giant said it expected to generate $275 million to $300 million in annual revenue.
In addition, like every year, Fierce Medtech named the latest crop of its Fierce 15, with startups that exemplify the industriousness in our industry. Nominations are currently open for the class of 2024, so please submit the private companies you feel are the fiercest in medtech, and we’ll see you in the new year.