San Carlos, Calif.-based Galaxy Medical Inc., which has developed pulsed electric field (PEF) technology for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, revealed the first treatments in the ECLIPSE-AF study, which is evaluating the Centauri system. The trial will assess the safety and efficacy of the Centauri as the company looks forward to obtaining a CE mark.

LONDON – Industry is calling on the government to set out a plan for the safe and sustainable restart of non-COVID-19 clinical studies that were put on hold when the pandemic struck.

Shares in Cytokinetics Inc. closed down 42% Oct. 8 on news that omecamtiv mecarbil, a heart failure drug which it is developing with Amgen Inc. (with funding and strategic support from Les Laboratoires Servier SAS), failed to demonstrate a survival benefit in a large-scale cardiovascular outcomes study.

LONDON – Industry is calling on the government to set out a plan for the safe and sustainable restart of non-COVID-19 clinical studies that were put on hold when the pandemic struck.

PERTH, Australia – Astrazeneca plc is leasing 175 Sozo devices from Impedimed Ltd. and plans to put them in 20 countries to run phase II trials for a combination drug that looks at fluid imbalance in the human body in patients with heart failure (HF) and chronic kidney disease.

LONDON – Clinical care guidelines recommending the use of the HIV/AIDS combination lopinavir-ritonavir for the treatment of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 must now be updated, say the authors of a paper reporting the full results of a randomized U.K. study.

With phase III vaccine trials nearly enrolled and data expected soon, a half-year of expedited development efforts, plus massive government funding may soon provide the ammunition needed to effectively stop the SARS-CoV-2 scourge of 2020.