#19: GST cuts on insurance, faecal pills & Mounjaro mania

This week in healthcare: Poo pills might replace antibiotics, Mounjaro sales are slimming India’s patience (and waistlines), the GST Council may finally cut health insurance some slack, and India rolls out a homegrown smart dialysis machine that’s saving lives and rupees, in real time.

• 🩸Renalyx just dropped India’s first-ever AI-powered smart dialysis machine with cloud storage and real-time remote monitoring. At ₹6.7 lakhs, it’s 25% cheaper than imports and 100% cooler. (BioS)

• ♀️ World-first breast swap! After a second cancer diagnosis, UK’s Nicola Purdie proposed moving her healthy reconstructed breast to the affected side. Surgeons made it happen, marking a global first. (BBC)

• 🐴 The NHS has approved a Trojan-horse therapy for blood cancer that delivers chemo straight into cancer cells using a targeted antibody. It’s the first of its kind in the world and offers new hope for patients with tough-to-treat multiple myeloma. (BBC)

• 💩 Poo Pill Power! UK scientists are testing tiny capsules filled with good gut bacteria taken from healthy donors’ faeces. Beat dangerous superbug infections without antibiotics. Would you take one to save your gut? (BBC)

• 👃 Smell ya later—literally. Scientists built a 3D model revealing that stem cells in the olfactory system don’t just repair damage, they actively guide the development and organisation of smell-sensing neurons, shaping how we detect odours every day. (NM)

• 🧒🏻 Bharat Biotech and GSK join forces to fast-track a Shigella vaccine, targeting severe diarrhoea in young children. With no approved jab yet, this could be big for child health. (ET)

• 💉 Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro mania in India: Sales soar 60%! The diabetes and weight-loss drug hit ₹24 Cr in just three months. (BS)

🇮🇳 India

• 🇮🇳 Ayushman Bharat in Bihar saved ₹1,000 Cr in out-of-pocket expenses within a year, covering 100% of Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011-listed rural families under AB PM-JAY, with 1,100+ hospitals onboard. (ETHealthWorld)

• 🔥 The GST Council is considering dropping the 18% tax on health insurance policies up to ₹5 lakh, a move that could make premiums lighter and coverage smarter for middle‑class families. (FE)

🌏️ Global

• 👶🏻 China’s birth plan: Ease the pain, raise the count. With birth rates sinking and epidural use low, China now orders tertiary hospitals to mandate epidurals by 2025. The move aims to make childbirth less daunting. (TimesLive)

🇮🇳 India

• 💸 ICICI Bank is pouring ₹550 crore into a world-class cancer facility in Visakhapatnam, bringing 215+ beds to the east coast. (ETHealthWorld)

🌏️ Global

• 🦿 Paris-based startup, Wandercraft, just walked off with $75M! The robotics company scored a hefty Series D to take its AI-powered walking exoskeletons and humanoids global, proving the future of mobility really does have legs. (TFN)

• 🐶 Advent International is investing $175M in Felix Pharma because even your pet’s meds need a billionaire backer. With FDA nods, this pharma-pet deal is purring with potential! (VCCircle)