Left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion procedures are designed to reduce the risk of thromboembolism in patients who have non-valvular atrial fibrillation, but a study presented at the 2023 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics annual meeting in San Francisco demonstrated that about half of patients continue to have LAA leaks – and potentially the risk of dangerous blood clots and stroke – a year after the procedure.
Aiming to provide additional utility and information to its continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), Dexcom Inc. is tying in the nutrition information provided by Rxfood Corp.’s app for customers in Canada. Clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, health plans, employers and others can make the app available to the beneficiaries and patients who use the Dexcom G6 or G7 systems, once the program is rolled out.
Abbott Laboratories took the next step in its years-long collaboration with Bigfoot Biomedical Inc. with the announcement after the market close on September 6 that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire the connected insulin cap maker. The financial terms of the transaction, which is expected to close this month, were not disclosed.
The pivotal ADVENT trial of the Farapulse pulsed field ablation (PFA) system developed by Boston Scientific Corp. returned positive results at one year, according to a presentation at the ESC Congress 2023 that was simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study compared Farapulse, a nonthermal treatment that ablates heart tissue, to radiofrequency or cryoablation, the current standards of care for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.
Cathvision ApS received U.S. FDA clearance for two artificial intelligence (AI) models, the PVI Analyzer, and Signal Complexity, which are part of a suite of algorithms designed to help electrophysiologists improve the diagnosis and treatment of complex atrial arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation. The two algorithms are part of Cathvision’s Cardialytics suite of AI-powered analytics integrated into its Ecgenius system, an electrophysiology recording system that helps with electrogram interpretation.
The $31.4 million investment Capstan Medical Inc. recently received in its Series B funding round will allow the company to make headway in its efforts to use a catheter-based, robotic delivery platform to treat patients with mitral and tricuspid valve disease. With heart disease a leading cause of death globally and cardiac procedures remaining highly invasive and filled with complications, Capstan is working to provide patients with safer, less invasive alternative.
Device recalls pop up with no regard to human appreciation for seasonality, and thus it was that recalls involving three major medical device makers emerged as the steamy month of July gave way to the arid, oppressive swelter of August. These recalls affected more than 7,500 units of the Trusignal pulse oximeter by GE Healthcare Technologies Inc., nearly 23,000 units of the Sigma Spectrum and Spectrum IQ infusion pumps by Baxter Healthcare Corp., and an unspecified number of units of the Carina ventilator by Drägerwerk AG, all of which adds a little more than the usual heat to the device industry’s dog days.
South Korean pharmaceutical company Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. may have found its footing after its misstep with Sanofi SA in 2020 for efpeglenatide, its glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist. On July 31, Hanmi announced that the once-dropped drug would be developed to treat obesity in the Korean population, submitting an IND application to the MFDS on July 28 to examine the once-a-week injection efpeglenatide in a phase III trial.
South Korean pharmaceutical company Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. may have found its footing after its misstep with Sanofi SA in 2020 for efpeglenatide, its glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist. On July 31, Hanmi announced that the once-dropped drug would be developed to treat obesity in the Korean population, submitting an IND application to the MFDS on July 28 to examine the once-a-week injection efpeglenatide in a phase III trial.
Leadless cardiac electrophysiology devices have been around for a while now, but Abbott Laboratories of Abbott Park, Ill., has managed to beat the competition in the market for dual chamber pacing via two leadless devices. The company reported July 5 that the U.S. FDA has approved the Aveir DR, a two-unit device configuration that provides pacing for both the right ventricle and the right atrium and which some analysts believe helps to make Abbott shares an underappreciated asset for investors.
