Private Company Edition: Last year set a high bar for venture capital, but this year is starting strong. Recent VC mega-deals include $500m for EQRx and $230m-plus for Tessera Therapeutics. Also, BioGeneration Ventures closed a €140m ($170.2m) fund and NewAmsterdam raised a $196m series A.

The global market for orthobiologics for musculoskeletal soft tissue replacement and regeneration is expected to reach $2.3bn by 2023, according to a new report by Informa's Meddevicetracker. This highly competitive market, which is led by Arthrex and other large and smaller players, continues to grow amid the rising prevalence of musculoskeletal soft tissue injuries and osteoarthritis. High prices of implants, the limited availability of donated tissue and limited reimbursement for synthetic scaffolds are limiting growth in this market.

Hearing-aid manufacturers are using AI, apps and other new technologies to create devices that are more sophisticated, smaller and more programmable. According to a new report by Informa's Meddevicetracker, the global market for hearing aids will reach $11by by 2023. This article offers an in-depth look at the competitive landscape, products as well as trends, such as new US FDA regulations for over-the-counter hearing aids and devices with language translation capabilities, with key insights from two audiologists.

The series A fundraising will help Locana bring CRISPR gene editing to diseases with dysfunctional RNA. Artizan and OncoMyx are among the other firms with recent series A rounds.