AI in healthcare

UK government backs new regulatory approach for AI in healthcare, accepting all 44 commission recommendations

The UK government has endorsed a new approach to regulating AI-enabled medical devices, with stronger monitoring throughout their use. It accepted all 44 recommendations from the National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare and committed to a framework of pre-market checks. A full implementation roadmap is expected by spring 2027, which matters to health-tech vendors selling into the NHS.

UK angle: UK government policy that will shape how AI medical devices are approved and monitored in the UK market.

Heidi Health pushes into AI admin agents to take on scribe rivals

Blackbird-backed medical AI platform Heidi Health is expanding beyond its ambient scribe into a suite of AI agents covering reception, billing, prior authorisation and patient communications. The move follows a $340m raise this month that valued the company at $900m, and builds on international contracts including NHS England Midlands. It sharpens competition with US rivals Abridge, Nabla and Ambience Healthcare in the crowded clinical-documentation market.

UK angle: Heidi already holds an NHS England Midlands contract, so its new agent suite will reach UK clinicians

MIT uses AI to make RNA vaccines stable without cold storage

MIT engineers at the Koch Institute used a machine-learning algorithm to screen nearly 50 FDA-approved excipients and identify lipid nanoparticle formulations that keep mRNA vaccines stable at room temperature for up to a year, or near 37C for two months. The AI approach, which also worked on Pfizer-style particles and needle-free microneedle patches, cut the formulation search from months to weeks. The work, published in Nature Biotechnology, could ease vaccine distribution in regions without reliable cold-chain infrastructure.

Roche outlines path to fully autonomous AI drug-discovery labs

At its Pharma Day investor event in London, Roche set out a six-level roadmap toward autonomous AI-run laboratories, built on a 'Lab-in-a-Loop' model where AI predictions are tested experimentally and fed back into the models. The company said roughly 40% of pipeline decisions since late 2025 had a tracked AI contribution, with its Target Nexus tool expected to inform 80% of research decisions by year-end. Roche is pairing the effort with ABB robotics for physical lab automation as part of a push for R&D 'AI independence'.

UK angle: Announcement was made at Roche's investor day held in London