Thales SA signed a major partnership with the Curie Institute to use very high-intensity electron FLASH radiotherapy (FLASH-RT) in cancer therapy. Based on its experience in the field of particle accelerators, “we have all the manufacturing facilities and human know-how necessary to ramp research and development for this new technology,” Charles-Antoine Goffin, vice president, microwave & imaging subsystems at Thales, told BioWorld.
The value of med-tech mergers and acquisitions in the first half of 2022 are at a five-year high and about 84% ahead of last year. The volume of M&As fell significantly in the second quarter, however, with only 104 completed that were worth $46.5 billion, 27.8% less than the first quarter’s value of $64.7 billion. Regardless, M&As in the first half of 2022 are towering over each of the four prior years’ first two quarters, with a total completed of 276 worth $110.9 billion.
Ophthalmic and microsurgery device maker Carl Zeiss Meditec AG is investing in regenerative medicine startup Precise Bio Ltd. to jointly develop 4D bio-fabricated corneal transplants for diseases that require endothelial keratoplasty and natural lenticule transplants. Under the terms of the agreement, Carl Zeiss Meditec will lead a series B financing round in Precise Bio and fund development of two cornea transplant products.
Illumina Inc., of San Diego, is struggling to complete the regulatory side of its acquisition of Grail Inc., of Menlo Park, Calif., thanks in part to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s (FTCs) ongoing review of the transaction. However, Illumina is also facing stiff winds in Europe where the General Court of the European Union rejected the company’s bid to push the deal through despite the opposition of the European Commission (EC).
Reflexion Medical Inc. entered into a nonexclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Mirada Medical Ltd., allowing Mirada’s Redengine image registration algorithms to be integrated into Reflexion’s X1 treatment planning software. The algorithms align a patient’s anatomy between distinct imaging modalities or between radiotherapy treatments.
Medtronic plc has entered a strategic collaboration with Cathworks Ltd. to expand the reach of Cathworks’ artificial intelligence (AI) guidance system for coronary artery disease management. Medtronic will invest up to $75 million and immediately begin co-promotion of the Ffrangio system on the U.S., European and Japanese market. As part of a separate agreement, Dublin-headquartered Medtronic will have the option to acquire Cathworks once certain undisclosed milestones are met.
Clinical analytics company Medial Earlysign Ltd. is expanding an existing partnership with Roche Holding AG to commercialize an artificial intelligence (AI) solution for the early detection of lung cancer. The companies originally signed an agreement in September to develop a personalized health solution for early detection of gastric cancer. The goal of the new collaboration is to develop Earlysign’s Lungflag software, which uses machine learning to identify patients at risk of developing lung cancer.
The Persona IQ combines a knee implant created by Zimmer Biomet Inc. with sensor technology developed by Canary Medical Inc. to capture performance data on range of motion, walking speed, step count and other orthopedic metrics. Liane Teplitsky, Zimmer Biomet’s president of global robotics likens the Persona IQ to a cardiac pacemaker, in this instance collecting important data on the knee implant so doctors working remotely can better understand how the device is performing post-surgery.
Shanghai Sanyou Medical Co. Ltd. will be working with Implanet SA to get the latter’s Jazz platform for treating spinal pathologies approved and distributed in China. “Through this partnership, Sanyou Medical will be Jazz’s exclusive distributor. We are currently working on obtaining registration in China with the authorities. We will have a better view on the commercial launch timing later this year,” Ludovic Lastennet, CEO and founder of Implanet, told BioWorld.
Orchestra Biomed Inc. struck a deal with Medtronic plc to develop a cardiac neuromodulation therapy as a potential integrated hypertension treatment for cardiac pacemaker patients. Medtronic also joined a $110 million series D round, led by RTW Investments, to invest in the biomedical company as it announced plans to list on the Nasdaq.
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.webp?height=488&t=1658440060&width=650 "Centre de protontherapie a l'Institut Curie (Orsay)")
