In this week’s edition of InnovationRx, we look at the year ahead in healthcare, French healthtech Doctolib’s potential large secondary, Alice Schwartz’s legacy at Bio-Rad, and more. To get it in your inbox, subscribe here.
The healthcare outlook for 2026: increasing AI adoption, more startup exits and ongoing regulatory challenges. That’s the bottom line from a survey of healthcare executives by Deloitte and analyst research from PitchBook.
AI technology will improve drug discovery, according to PitchBook, which predicts it will “nearly double” the number of drugs that make it through the clinical trial process, as well as shortening timelines and cutting costs. The technology will also reduce the time doctors spend on administrative tasks. The Deloitte survey echoed those findings, with 78% saying AI will play a “central role” in boosting their organizations’ efficiency in the coming year.
Another thing to look for in 2026: more M&A activity. This has already been a big year for dealmaking, including Johnson &Johnson’s $14.6 billion purchase of Intra-Cellular Therapies and Pfizer’s acquisition of obesity drug maker Metsera for up to $10 billion following a bidding war. Nearly half of biotech and medtech leaders surveyed by Deloitte see partnerships and acquisitions as a top priority for 2026. PitchBook notes that there are more than 120 next generation GLP-1 drugs in development across 60 companies, and that the battle between Novo Nordisk and Pfizer for Metsera “underscores the escalating strategic urgency in this space.”
A major headwind is ongoing regulatory uncertainty, with 80% of executives telling Deloitte that regulatory and policy uncertainty will impact their strategies in 2026. PitchBook’s analysts expect major changes in policy due to healthcare affordability. That’s likely to play out in new rules on Medicare reimbursements, changes to insurance underwriting and potential restructuring of Medicare Advantage’s risk-adjustment system.
Trump’s tariffs also are a big concern, with 39% of executives surveyed by Deloitte expecting them to affect their 2026 strategies. That could be a particular issue for medtech companies. PitchBook notes that ongoing trade tensions with China may lead to more tariffs on medical devices in the coming year.
P.S. This will be the last edition of InnovationRx for the year. Happy holidays and see you January 7!
French Health Tech Unicorn Doctolib Plans Secondary Investment Of Hundreds Of Millions
Doctolib cofounder and CEO Stanislas Niox-Chateau
AFP via Getty Images
French health tech Doctolib is in talks to raise a large secondary investment, in the range of a few hundred million dollars, where Generation Investment Management would buy a stake from existing shareholders, three sources told Forbes.
Doctolib reached a valuation of $6.4 billion at its most recent venture funding in March 2022, making it the highest valued French startup at the time (that crown has since been taken by AI startup Mistral, now worth $14 billion). One source said that the valuation for the pending investment may be roughly flat with the previous round. The funding conversations are early and details of the investment could change.
Doctolib cofounder and CEO Stanislas Niox-Chateau did not respond to emails. Generation declined to comment.
Read more here.
In Memoriam: Alice Schwartz, Bio-Rad’s Trailblazing Cofounder
Bio-Rad cofounder Alice Schwartz, who died in September at age 99, was one of healthcare’s trailblazing women. She started the company in 1952 with her husband David (who died in 2012) from a Berkeley, California Quonset hut with just $720 . She was then instrumental in developing the company’s first test kit for thyroid function in the 1960s, marking its entry into the field of clinical diagnostics.
She was “the chemistry maven of Bio-Rad’s early years,” according to an SFGate 2002 profile of the company. On Forbes’ 2025 list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women, she ranked number 19, worth an estimated $2.3 billion, one of just 35 women in the U.S. to build a billion-dollar fortune.
By the time she died, she’d helped build the publicly traded company into a giant of the field, with a market cap of $8.3 billion and annual revenue of $2.6 billion from thousands of products from tests for autoimmune diseases and diabetes to chromatography resins used in biotech research. (It hasn’t all been easy for Bio-Rad: The company reported a net loss of $1.8 billion for 2024, it laid off hundreds of employees earlier this year, and its stock is down 8% year to date.)
Unusual for a public company founded seven decades ago, Bio-Rad has managed to stay a family affair. Alice Schwartz remained an active board until 2022, and her son Norman Schwartz, 75, is the company’s CEO–a position he has held since 2003.
Deal of the Week
Using AI to reimagine drug discovery is hot. Case in point: Chai Discovery, which works on computer-designed proteins, announced this week that it had raised $130 million, led by Oak HC/FT and General Catalyst, at a valuation of $1.3 billion. The San Francisco-based biotech launched in 2024, and has seen its valuation more than double from $550 million in August. Cofounder and CEO Joshua Meier was previously chief AI officer at antibody developer Absci.
WHAT WE’RE READING
Eli Lilly’s next-gen weight loss drug shows major weight loss in late-stage trial, but many participants discontinued it due to side effects.
A surrogacy firm closed suddenly leaving parents-to-be out tens of thousands of dollars meant to compensate women who would carry their pregnancies.
A child’s sudden death in a test of viruses engineered to get past the blood-brain barrier has cast doubt on a promising area of gene therapy research that could help patients with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Sanofi’s multiple sclerosis drug, which it previously said had blockbuster potential for two forms of the disease, is facing setbacks after failing to meet key goals in late-stage trials.
FDA sent warning letters to Target, Walmart and other retailers for selling recalled ByHeart baby formula linked to a botulism outbreak in infants.
Texas sued Epic, alleging that the electronic health records giant wields monopolistic control over patients’ medical data.
Medline raised more than $6 billion in the biggest IPO of the year.
MORE FROM FORBES
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/innovationrx/2025/12/17/the-healthcare-industry-outlook-for-2026/