In an effort to gain new insights about the novel coronavirus sweeping the globe, Boston-based Biofourmis Inc. is leveraging its artificial intelligence-driven remote monitoring platform to monitor Hong Kong patients diagnosed or suspected of having COVID-19. The remote monitoring and disease surveillance program, which kicked just a few days ago, is being administered by the University of Hong Kong and includes Biofourmis’ Hong Kong-based joint venture, Harmony Medical Inc.

Roche scores breakthrough device designation for Elecsys GALAD score

With an eye toward helping those with early stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), Basel, Switzerland-based Roche has won breakthrough device designation from the U.S. FDA for the Elecsys GALAD score. When combined with ultrasound, the Elecsys GALAD score aims to help provide more accurate information at an earlier stage. "HCC is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, with the highest burden of disease in East Asia and Africa,” explained Amit Singal, medical director of the liver tumor program and clinical chief of pathology at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. “This high mortality is largely driven by most patients being detected at a late stage, when curative therapies are no longer possible.”

DeLauro says House, Senate leaders agree on coronavirus supplemental

The March 4 hearing congressional hearing on the budget for the National Institutes of Health was peppered with questions about the COVID-19 outbreak, although the general sentiment is that the agency will receive yet another boost in appropriations in fiscal 2021. The subcommittee chairwoman, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), said late in the hearing that an agreement has been reached between House and Senate leaders on a supplemental spending bill for the COVID-19 outbreak, suggesting that the federal government response to the pathogen is about to take on new urgency.

Japan’s medical device price cut to be smaller this year amid foreign med techs’ concerns

HONG KONG – Japan cuts medical device prices every two years to manage increasing healthcare costs. This year, the biennial medical device price cut will take effect from April 1. Compared with the recent price cut rates in 2018 and 2016, the impact will be smaller this year. The average price cut in 2020 will be 1.8% under so-called reasonable zone (R zone), the gap between the actual purchasing price and reimbursement price. Earlier in October 2019, there was a 0.2% of average price reduction due to the consumption tax increase in Japan. Therefore, the actual price reduction will be 2.0%, which is still less than 3.0% in 2018 and 3.9% in 2016.

Physiq AI platform gives advance notice of up to 10 days of impending heart failure crisis

An artificial intelligence platform developed by Chicago-based Physiq gave researchers a mean of 10.4 days warning of an impending heart failure exacerbation that would require hospitalization or an emergency department visit in a study published in Circulation – Heart Failure. The monitoring system, which uses a disposable chest sensor, could avert one-third of hospital readmissions for heart failure, the researchers said.

Tau protein plays role in autism spectrum disorder

Lowering levels of tau protein improved multiple symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in two different mouse models of the disease, both of which are driven by hyperactivity of the mTOR PI3 kinase pathway. The findings link tau, which is best known as public enemy number two in Alzheimer’s disease, to ASD – a surprising finding, Lennart Mucke told BioWorld, seeing as “there were no genetic clues. … There are so many genes that have been implicated in autism, but tau isn’t one of them.”

Also in the news

Anika, Biosig, Charles River Laboratories, Citius Tech, Immunxperts, Impella, Inflammix, Kabafusion, Lincare, Luminex, Medx Health, Mesa Biotech, Nanostring Technologies, Nexelis, Ocutrx Vision Technologies, Orthopediatrics, Roche, SymphonyAI, Terarecon