2016 was a year of surprise and change in political circles, but that's nothing new for the medtech industry, which over a number of years has become accustomed to health care systems demanding different and ever-higher levels of service. Smart medtechs have been ahead of the curve, but the whole industry now factors in clients' wider needs in a holistic approach to patient care. Many companies' current M&A policies are already reflecting the changes to come.

UK-listed BTG PLC shares the UK life science industry's concerns about long-term negative fallout from Brexit, but it finds itself in a relatively comfortable position. The acquisitive interventional medicines company says it has plenty of firepower for more M&A.

Inaugural artificial intelligence recommendations from NICE on radiotherapy contouring should allow clinicians to spend more time with patients and on complex cases where AI is not an option. But large language models are not appropriate in all cases, cautions Adrian Sutherland, principal healthcare architect at Endava consultancy.