With its agreement to buy Atos Medical Inc., Coloplast A/S is consolidating its position as a global leader in the chronic care market. Founded in Sweden in 1986, Atos Medical is the largest player for laryngectomy devices, holding a market share of more than 80%. It’s a bold move from the Humlebaek, Denmark-based company as it offers to pay $2.5 billion to acquire the Nottingham, U.K-based company from private equity firm Pai Partners.
Geninus Inc. endured a difficult debut on Korea Exchange’s Kosdaq board, but still raised ₩40 billion (US$33.83 million) through its listing. The 2 million shares on offer tumbled 25.56% at ₩13,400 (US$11.33) at the close of trading on Nov. 8, after Geninus priced them at ₩20,000.
PERTH, Australia – Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has approved Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd.’s lead prostate cancer imaging agent, Illuccix. Illuccix (TLX591-CDx) is a Gallium-based PSMA imaging agent and cold kit for developing radiopharmaceutical products and diagnostic agents. Telix’s prostate cancer program consists of a companion diagnostic imaging agent (TLX591-CDx) and a therapeutic (TLX-591) to improve the detection and treatment of prostate cancer.
A brighter future awaits radiotherapy if Flash and LIGHT live up to their promise. Announcements made last week by Varian Medical Systems and Advanced Oncotherapy plc indicate results should be seen soon. Varian reported that the first human clinical trial of Flash, Fast-01, completed its treatment phase last week at the Cincinnati Children’s/University of Cincinnati Health Proton Therapy Center. Advanced Oncotherapy plc presented results from a modeling study of Linac for Image Guided Hadron Therapy (LIGHT) technology at the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 2021 Annual Meeting demonstrating that LIGHT enables both the high, super-quick dose delivery of Flash and good conformality of dose delivery to tumor tissue.
Asahi Intecc Co. Ltd. is tapping Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence Inc.’s non-linear structural analysis software, Marc, to develop delivery devices that carry markers to the vicinity of cancers in preparation for endoscopic surgery.
Zap Surgical Systems Inc. is debuting its noninvasive brain tumor treatment to the European market through an agreement with Centre de Cancérologie de la Porte de Saint-Cloud (CCPSC). The Boulogne-based center, which is part of the American Hospital of Paris, said it expects patients to access the treatment by Fall 2022.
Diacarta Inc.’s diagnostic assay, Coloscape, could be the first to meet the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS)’s strict standards for Medicare coverage of a liquid biopsy for colorectal cancer screening if results seen in a Plos One study are borne out in larger trials and the test gets the nod from the FDA. That is a lot of ifs, but the study posted strong results: 100% specificity and 92.2% sensitivity for cancer and 95% specificity and 62.5% sensitivity for precancerous lesions.
Precision cancer care company Simbiosys Inc. has raised $15 million to accelerate development of its Tumor Scope software platform for management of solid tumors. The application enables oncologists to virtualize cancer tumors and simulate a patient’s response to specific drug therapies by combining artificial intelligence with biophysical simulations. The technology models the impact of drug delivery, drug sensitivity, metabolism and spatial heterogeneity and provides data that can be used to inform individual treatment plans.
Smart Medical Systems Ltd. has released positive data showing its FDA-cleared G-eye balloon endoscope has a higher adenoma detection rate (ADR) compared to Olympus’ Endocuff Vision (ECV) technology in patients undergoing screening or surveillance colonoscopy.
PARIS – Quantum Surgical SAS has closed $48 million in funding to finance the commercial launch of its integrated robotics platform for percutaneous treatment in liver cancer. The round was led by Hong Kong-based Ally Bridge Group who invested $24 million, or half the total amount raised. Three banks also participated in this funding round: The European Investment Bank, Bpifrance and Caisse d’Epargne Languedoc Roussillon.