There are always new frontiers in health care: diseases whose treatment and cures still elude us; biological and medical mysteries that we’re yet to crack; public health issues that could be better and more equitably solved; industry processes that could be simpler and more efficient; and patients and consumers who could be better informed, empowered, and served in terms of their own health and well-being. The good news is that there’s plenty of innovation percolating across this vast landscape, and 2024 was a year of breakthroughs like any other. Fortune health writers and editors sized up their potential impact, novelty, and accessibility to compile this list where we recognize some of the most staggering, game-changing, life-improving developments of the year—all innovations that will influence our health in ways big and small for years to come.
Sickle cell gene therapies
The first-ever gene therapies for sickle cell disease—a painful, debilitating, and life-threatening blood disorder—received FDA approval on the same day last December, but it wasn’t until 2024 that patients began to benefit from these groundbreaking treatments. The two new therapies—Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ Casgevy and BlueBird Bio’s Lyfgenia—offer the 100,000 Americans and nearly 8 million people globally who suffer from sickle cell potential cures to the hereditary condition, the only treatment aside from a bone marrow transplant, a difficult process that depends on finding a matching donor.
Both therapies are made using a patient’s own stem cells, which are modified and then given back in a single infusion. Casgevy, which does this using CRISPR is also the first-ever approved therapy to use the gene-editing technology. While potentially life-changing, treatment with these therapies is months-long and grueling, and they’re expensive—priced at $2.2 million and $3.1 million, respectively—so the uptake has been slow: in November, Vertex said about 40 patients have begun the process for Casgevy, while BlueBird reported 17 for Lyfgenia.
First at-home flu vaccine
You can forget the days of the drug store flu shot. AstraZeneca’s FluMist allows you to take the annual vaccine in your own home, and in a bonus for the needle-phobic, it’s an easy-to-administer nasal spray rather than a solution to inject in the arm. Approved by the FDA in September, the vaccine, which requires a prescription and is for people ages 2 to 49, will be available next fall.
Mind-controlled prosthetic leg
Most artificial limbs do not feel like natural extensions of the body. While technology like robotic sensors and AI algorithms have improved in recent years, a group of researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital has developed a prosthetic leg that is now fully controlled by its user’s own nervous system. A study, published in July, of seven patients who received a mind-controlled bionic limb showed they walked 41% faster and that they were more adept at navigating real-world terrain like stairs, slopes, and other obstacles. Individuals with the artificial limb say it doesn’t feel artificial at all.
The neuroprosthetic requires a surgical procedure and sensors near the amputation site that help transmit brain signals to the bionic leg.
A non-opioid pain medicine
Decades and more than a million deaths into America’s devastating opioid crisis, the need for non-addictive pain medicine is plain. Vertex Pharmaceuticals began working on Suzetrigine, its non-opioid drug candidate 20 years ago, guided by insights from the study of a family of fire walkers who didn’t feel pain due to a genetic difference.
In January, the company reported Phase 3 study results showing the drug, which is designed to block pain signals to the brain, effectively reduced pain in patients after two kinds of surgery. (In the study, the drug’s pain-relieving effect did not outperform the opioid Vicodin, though.) The FDA is expected to approve the drug for acute pain in January, while Vertex plans to continue studies of the drug for treatment of chronic pain.
AI medical scribes
For years, America’s corps of physicians has been in bad shape, reporting epidemic level burnout and overwork, due in large part to the many hours they spend on documentation and entering information into electronic health record systems. Finally, it seems, there’s relief on the horizon with a wave of new AI scribe tools—that instantly transcribe, summarize, and format notes on patient visits.
Though the technology is not perfect—hallucinations do happen, occasionally—AI scribes continue to get positive reviews from physicians who appreciate the lighter administrative load and the more focused time they can spend with patients. (Patients have responded favorably too in surveys, noticing their doctors spend less time on the computer during their visit.)
A study published earlier this year spoke to the promise of the technology as well. When California’s Permanente Medical Group rolled out the technology, the 3,400 physicians who adopted it saved an hour of computer time everyday.
Mapping the fruit fly brain
We know this is a list of human health breakthroughs, but there’s a strong argument that the achievement of a global team of researchers that mapped—neuron-by-neuron, and synapse-by-synapse—the entire brain of an adult fruit fly is one of those too. They published the news and findings of the work in October in Nature. The map shows the fruit fly brain’s wiring, depicting a “connectome” of 140,000 neurons and 50 million synapses. Neuroscientists and experts expect the insight we can glean from the work can revolutionize work on the human brain and neurological diseases that continue to stump scientists.
Earbuds as clinical grade hearing aid
In September, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the first over-the-counter hearing aid software. The bigger news, perhaps, was that this software was for Apple’s ubiquitous white earbuds—specifically the AirPods Pro 2—which can now test hearing and serve as clinical grade aids to individuals with mild to moderate hearing loss. Priced at $249 (affordable by hearing aid standards), that’s a boon for the 15% of U.S. adults who report some problem hearing—or the 28.8 million Americans who, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, could benefit from using hearing aids. Hearing well is important for a number of health reasons, from basic safety to allowing the sort of social engagement that helps protect against depression and dementia.
The first new schizophrenia drug in decades
For the past 70 years, antipsychotic medications have been the standard treatment for schizophrenia, a disease affecting 1 in 300 people. These drugs change brain chemistry by blocking neurotransmitters like dopamine that are thought to contribute to most debilitating symptoms of the disease, like psychosis and delusions. The drug industry has improved these medicines over the years, but the innovations have all reached back to the same 1950s playbook, and even so, for many—an estimated 10% to 30% of patients—antipsychotics simply don’t work. Others experience significant negative side effects on the drugs.
That’s why Cobenfy, which the FDA approved for schizophrenia in September, is considered such a gamechanger. The medication, developed by Karuna Pharmaceuticals and acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb in March, is the first in 70 years to use a new mechanism of action to treat the disease. Rather than blocking dopamine, it targets other receptors in the brain. Results from clinical trials were extremely promising, though some note those studies were short and Cobenfy’s safety and effectiveness in treating a lifelong disease requires further study.
Brain-computer interfaces
Brain implants used to be the stuff of science fiction, but this year devices that can be controlled by one’s thoughts arrived in reality. There was the splashy news from Elon Musk that his company Neuralink, had implanted its first brain-computer interface in a human patient in January. Thanks to the technology, the patient, 30-year-old Noland Arbaugh, a quadriplegic man from Yuma, Arizona, has been able to move a computer cursor, and even play video games, with his mind. After a few months, the device moved limiting its effectiveness, but Arbaugh has expressed contentment with the experience and his contribution to the technology’s development.
Meanwhile, in October, Neuralink competitor Syncron announced that its implant, which was tested in six people who cannot move their arms due to paralysis, had cleared its one-year safety study. In the trial, the implant was also effective at capturing the individuals’ brain signals related to motor intent and converting them into outputs—like the movement of a cursor—which allowed participants to complete a series of digital tasks.
Pap smear alternatives
The pap smear, the routine procedure in which doctors collect cells from the cervix, is one of the most vital tools for detecting cancer and pre-cancerous cells in women. But, as many will attest, the experience is not pleasant, and screening rates, particularly in minority populations, lag public health goals.
But in May, women got an alternative when the FDA said patients can now collect vaginal specimens themselves for two human papillomavirus (HPV) tests from BD and Roche. (HPV causes the vast majority of cases of cervical cancer). For now, patients must do this in a health care setting, but experts still expect the new option will boost the number of women screened and help reduce the 4,000 deaths to cervical cancer every year. And more options are on the horizon: Teal Health’s new device, the Teal Wand, allows women to quickly collect a vaginal sample at home for cervical cancer screening. (92% of participants did so in two minutes or less, and 90% rated it as comfortable or more comfortable than a pap smear.) Teal submitted its application for FDA approval in October, and will receive an accelerated review process for its at-home screening thanks to the product’s FDA Breakthrough status.
A medication for preventing HIV transmission
When a scientist presented the results from a large study of lenacapavir earlier this year, she was given a standing ovation. In the clinical trial, the medication was 100% effective in preventing HIV transmission. A second trial recently found the drug, which is given in twice yearly injections, had 96% efficacy.
That’s a game-changing development in the effort to end HIV/AIDS, a disease that afflicts 38.4 million people globally and newly infects 1.3 million people every year. Developed by Gilead Sciences, lenacapavir is already approved as a treatment for HIV, but these results support its use for prevention—and as a possible alternative to Truvada, known as PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), a daily pill that is highly effective at blocking HIV transmission, but which comes with the challenges of adherence.
Better birthing information for Black and Brown women
One of the great shames of American health care is the nation’s abysmally high maternal mortality rate: maternal deaths increased 144% over the past two decades, from roughly 9.65 per 100,000 people between 1999-2002 and 23.6 per 100,000 between 2018-2021. Black women are disproportionately affected, with rates of death that are two to three times greater than other groups. Correcting that disparity is the driving force behind Irth—named to reflect birth without the ‘B,’ or bias—an app designed for Black and Brown women to share and learn from others about their hospital and birthing experiences.
Aggregating that information and making it accessible is important for protecting women, but also for improving institutions, which have a harder time ignoring problems, when data exists. Some hospitals are taking a proactive approach. Earlier this year, Irth and MemorialCare Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital Long Beach in California launched a ‘Birth without Bias’ hospital pilot to develop new standards for prenatal and postpartum care based on testimonials on Irth.
Groundbreaking achievement in AI
There’s a reason the developers of AlphaFold won a Nobel Prize (for chemistry) this year. The AI-powered tool, whose third iteration launched in May, can predict with remarkable speed and accuracy the structure of hundreds of millions of proteins—including all those found in the living world—as well as their interactions with each other. (Previously, it could take a well-trained PhD student years to predict the structure of a single experimental protein.) That’s a game changer for researchers and drug developers who can use this information to better understand biological mechanisms and design drugs to treat disease.
The tool became more accessible in November, when AlphaFold 3 developers—Google’s DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs—made the code available for researchers to download and use for work on noncommercial applications.
VR for youth mental health
Meditation is a simple and powerful tool for managing mental health, but for those who struggle to get into the right frame of mind to reap its benefits, there’s Headspace XR, a new virtual reality experience that more fully immerses users in a mood-boosting world. Developed by the mental health company Headspace and sold in Meta’s Quest store, the product leads users in breathing techniques and guided meditation, engages them in brain-stimulating play, and even connect with others in that mindful virtual space. (One Fortune reviewer was blown away by the soothing Headspace XR experience.)
At the time of a national youth mental health crisis—40% of students report feelings of persistent sadness or hopelessness—and widespread anxiety among the adult population, this is an innovation that could help reach some. (Meta Quest headsets start at $200; Headspace XR costs $20.)
Screen time reduction for vulnerable teens
The Yondr pouch was not invented this year, but it did take American schools by storm in 2024 as administrators, increasingly wary of smartphones in their classrooms, looked for solutions. Yondr’s product, which is a magnetically locked pouch in which to store a phone, has proven a simple yet reliable way to keep students off of them—and so freer of distraction and more engaged in learning. Schools also report mental health improvements and a reduction in bullying. While formal studies are lacking and the pouches are not always popular with students, the Yondr pouch—originally developed to keep live music events phone-free—is helping reduce screen time, and that can make a difference. According to the CDC, teens who spend four hours or more on screens are more likely to experience anxiety or depression.
Gene therapy that cures congenital deafness
For the first decade of his life, Aissam Dam, an 11-year-old boy from Morocco couldn’t hear. A genetic condition had rendered him deaf from birth. But after a breakthrough treatment, Dam can now hear: a gene therapy administered to his inner ear restored his hearing in less than 30 days. Akouos, a subsidiary of Eli Lilly, announced the promising result earlier this year.
The gene therapy, which is in early-stage trials, is now being tested in younger children as well. It has the potential to restore hearing for the estimated 200,000 people around the world who are born with the same condition Dam had, and paves the way for targeting other forms of genetic hearing loss.
Executive Order on Advancing Women’s Health Research and Innovation
An effort to support women’s health research shouldn’t be groundbreaking in 2024. But the sad fact remains that when it comes to health and disease, sex differences are poorly understood, largely because women were left out of biomedical research for so long. Most modern medicine is based on the study of male bodies; it wasn’t until the 1990s, that women began participating in clinical trials in significant numbers—because that’s when it became required by law. That means we know a lot more about heart attacks in men than women, and for conditions that mostly affect women, like autoimmune conditions, we know relatively little.
In March, President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order aimed at accelerating progress through a raft of actions that require federal agencies to integrate and prioritize women’s health research in their activities. He also called on Congress to put $12 billion towards the cause. Priorities may change with a new Administration, but the President’s actions—along with the launch of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research last year—have pushed the important, overlooked field forward.
Speedy, self-serve vision tests
Of the estimated 93 million American adults at high risk for severe vision loss, only half visited an eye doctor in the past year—largely due to cost or lack of awareness, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s not a trivial issue: the CDC estimates the cost of major vision problems to increase to $373 billion by 2050. In an effort to fill that gap, Eyebot, a Boston-based company earlier this year introduced self-serve AI-powered kiosks that test your vision and give you a prescription in 90 seconds. The company partners with retailers like Zenni Optical, and while Eyebot’s machines can’t match an ophthalmologist when it comes to serious eye care, they can help address many cases of untreated vision loss.
First blood test for detecting colorectal cancers
Colorectal cancers are the second most deadly in the U.S., trailing only lung cancer, in claiming roughly 53,000 lives every year. One reason is low screening rates: More than 75% of patients who die of the disease are not up to date on them. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends adults ages 45 to 75 get checked regularly with a colonoscopy or fecal test, but only 70% of people ages 50 to 75 do; rates are lower 45- to 49-year-olds.
But experts expect a new option will help boost those numbers. In July, Guardant’s Health Shield became the first blood test approved for colorectal screening. Less onerous and invasive than the colonoscopy, and less off-putting, perhaps, than tests requiring patients to collect their own stool, the blood test can be administered easily in a health care setting. A study found it catches 83% of cancers, but detects only a small fraction of dangerous polyps—which can lead to cancer—so the colonoscopy remains the gold standard.
A potential cure for lupus
Autoimmune conditions remain some of the most mysterious and difficult health problems in medicine. Perhaps none more than lupus, a chronic disease affecting an estimated 5 million people worldwide that occurs when the immune system attacks the body’s healthy cells and tissues. Symptoms are wide-ranging and body-spanning; the condition can be mild or life-threatening; flare-ups are unpredictable. There are medications used to manage lupus and its symptoms, but they can have side effects; there is no cure.
But, with a stunning, paradigm-shifting development, there may be one on the horizon. In February the New England Journal of Medicine, published findings from a study of 15 patients with lupus and other autoimmune conditions who had been effectively treated with Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-Cell therapy. In recent years, CAR T-cell therapy, which involves removing, genetically modifying and reinfusing a patient’s T-cells, has proven a successful therapy for some cancers; the T-cells are engineered to attack tumors. But this study suggests the same approach can work with lupus by engineering the T-cells to target B cells, the immune system cells that lead to flare-ups. Two years after treatment, the 15 patients were still in remission.
