The U.K. government and the health care industry should focus more on behavioral-based approaches and preventative care in a bid to tackle health inequality, rising costs and an ageing population, Anton Derlyatka, CEO and co-founder of Sweatcoin Ltd., told BioWorld. Sweatcoin is a step-counting app that rewards users for their daily steps. The company has worked with the NHS for the last three years and is currently working on pilot programs to help tackle type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases by incentivizing people to move.
As quicker, more accurate ways to detect dementia becomes ever more urgent, Cumulus Neuroscience Ltd. has teamed up with the Universities of Bath and Bristol in the U.K. to further develop the Fastball electroencephalogram (EEG) test, a diagnostic test for earlier detection of Alzheimer’s dementia. With one in three people born in the U.K. today likely to develop dementia at some point in their lives, early diagnosis and treatment are essential for them to plan for their future.
Investment in life sciences in the U.K. in 2022 was 47% lower than in 2021, new figures from the government show, a decline the British pharma industry believes is down to the high clawback rates imposed on drug manufacturers deterring global investors.
Organox Ltd. raised £25 million (US$33 million) in a funding round that will allow the company to expand its operations in the U.S. on the back of significantly increasing demand from transplant centers, Oern Stuge, executive chairman, at Organox told BioWorld. The Oxford, U.K.-based company which makes systems to preserve and transport livers for transplant is also preparing for its eventual listing on Nasdaq, he added.
Caristo Diagnostics Ltd. is deploying its medical imaging technology, Cari-Heart, at several NHS hospitals in a pilot project that will help identify patients at risk of heart attack years before it occurs. Cari-Heart detects signs of inflammation around coronary arteries. “No other company is doing this,” Frank Cheng, CEO of Caristo told BioWorld. “No one is using CT to quantify and visualize coronary inflammation” to predict the risk of a heart attack years in advance.
Parasym Ltd.’s neuromodulation technology significantly decreased postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and has the potential to be a safe and effective treatment for individuals living with the condition, according to a recent study. The result from the trial represents a substantial breakthrough for people with POTS, as there are no U.S. FDA approved treatments for the condition, Nathan Dundovic, co-founder at Parasym, told BioWorld.
Sensorion SA has submitted a clinical trial application (CTA) for OTOF-GT to the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Sensorion plans to submit the CTA in Europe in the coming weeks.
Electromedical Products International Inc. (EPI) Alpha-Stim AID technology is finally being made available by the NHS in the U.K. to treat patients with anxiety some two years after the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said there was not enough good-quality evidence to support the case for routine adoption.
The U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) released several draft and final health technology assessments on July 5, including a review of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to aid in the detection of lung nodules in CT images. The agency said that more research is needed before it will be able to provide an unqualified endorsement because of a relative lack of data that could be reliably generalized from clinical study subjects to the broader U.K. population at large.
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has declared its opposition to a proposed merger between Cochlear Ltd. And Oticon Medical A/S, two of the prime movers in the bone conduction implant space.