• Novocure (St. Helier, Jersey Isle) filed a PMA supplement application for its new, second-generation Optune system with the FDA on Dec. 22, 2015. FDA approval of the PMA supplement is required before Novocure can make the improved Optune system available to glioblastoma patients in the U.S. Optune is a portable, noninvasive device that delivers tumor treating fields (TTFields) therapy to patients with newly diagnosed and recurrent glioblastoma. Novocure said it designed the second-generation Optune system to improve the convenience and manageability of TTFields therapy for patients. The new model features a TTFields generator that is half the size and half the weight of the current system. The second-generation Optune system, including its battery, weighs 2.7 pounds (1.3 kilograms) compared to the current version that weighs 6 pounds (3 kilograms).

• Penumbra Inc. (Alameda, Calif.) reported the U.S. launch of its new penumbra occlusion device (POD) packing coil, designed to be used as a complementary device with Penumbra's Ruby and POD products. Penumbra's peripheral vascular product portfolio currently focuses on thrombectomy and embolization therapies, such as peripheral thrombectomy, which involves the removal of blood clots and peripheral embolization which involves obstructing blood flow to target vessels, aneurysms and vascular anomalies, and assisting with the treatment of oncological disease.