In the July 12, 2021, issue of Nature Aging, researchers working at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging describe analysis from 1,001 immunomes of generally healthy patients correlating soluble immune biomarkers against measures of multimorbidity, immunosenescence, frailty and cardiovascular disease over 11 years of longitudinal study.

The FDA has granted breakthrough device designation to Endologix LLC for its Chimney Endovascular Aneurysm Sealing (ChEVAS) system. The device, which is intended for use in treating aortic aneurysms, is currently being evaluated in a multicenter pivotal study. The ChEVAS system is an endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) therapy designed to combine the Nellix 3.5 endograft with parallel visceral chimney stents to enable treatment of patients with juxtarenal, pararenal and suprarenal AAA.

On the heels of enrolling the first patient in a pivotal trial of a ventricular restoration system to treat symptomatic heart failure patients in January, Ancora Heart Inc. closed $80 million in new financing on Monday. The startup company plans to use the new funding to speed up this pivotal trial in preparation for FDA approval of its Accucinch ventricular restoration system.

A research team from the National University Health System (NUHS) was awarded a translational grant of S$4.9 million (US$3.6 million) from the National Research Foundation Singapore Central Gap Fund to further develop its personalized mitral valve bioprosthesis. Currently, around 500 patients in Singapore and more than 1 million around the world require mitral valve surgery annually.

In the largest private fundraising round for a U.S. medical device company in the past year, Imperative Care Inc. closed $260 million in a series D financing round on Thursday. The company also acquired its spinoff Truvic Medical Inc., a peripheral thrombectomy developer.

Heartflow Holding Inc. is aiming to bring its noninvasive, artificial intelligence (AI)-based test for coronary heart disease to more doctors and patients via a merger with Longview Acquisition Corp. II. The deal, valued at an enterprise value of about $2.4 billion, is the latest in a steady stream of med techs queueing up to go public via a “blank check” special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) this year.

Despite assembling the largest body of data the FDA said it may ever see for a drug intended to treat anemia due to chronic kidney disease, Fibrogen Inc. will have to get even more trial data to push roxadustat over the finish line in the U.S. – if the FDA follows the advice of its Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee.

Approval could come next year for Furoscix from Scpharmaceuticals Inc. (Scpharma), a solution of the standard-of-care heart failure diuretic furosemide formulated to a neutral pH and designed for outpatient use.