Pfizer has released mid-stage (Phase 2b) VESPER-3 results: its experimental drug PF’3944 (previously known as MET-097i and brought into Pfizer via the Metsera deal) helped people with obesity or overweight lose up to 12.3% of body weight (placebo-adjusted) by week 28. The headline feature is the dosing schedule: patients started with weekly injections during dose escalation, then switched to a once-monthly maintenance shot. Pfizer says there was no clear weight-loss “plateau” by week 28, and the trial continues through week 64.
Medtronic announced on February 3, 2026, its intent to exercise its option to acquire CathWorks, an Israeli medical device company specializing in AI-driven coronary artery disease diagnostics, in a deal valued at up to $585 million plus potential undisclosed earn-out payments. The acquisition, pending U.S. Federal Trade Commission clearance, is expected to close by the end of Medtronic’s fiscal year 2026.
YouTube is rolling out a restriction that prevents background video playback in third-party mobile browsers, even when users rely on Picture-in-Picture mode. The change mainly affects people who access YouTube through mobile web browsers instead of the official app — and may push them toward installing the native app or subscribing to YouTube Premium.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced that it will release hundreds of millions of sterile, fluorescent New World screwworm flies along the Texas–Mexico border to maintain a barrier preventing the parasitic fly from spreading north. The move comes in response to a growing outbreak in Mexico and the serious threat the pest poses to livestock, the agricultural economy, and public health.