Disaster Management Group (DMG), of Indiantown, Fla., has launched a 15-minute screening tool for COVID-19 that can be administered at drive-thru testing sites. The DMGtest, which is being offered under an FDA waiver, first rolled out in Florida and will soon be available in other parts of the U.S.

Leuven, Belgium-based Midiagnostics NV, which is looking to bring miniaturized, rapid, blood-based tests with built-in connectivity to both patients and clinicians, reported the completion of a €14 million (US$15.4 million) investment round. The company intends to use the funds to speed the development of its nanofluidic processor on a chip and prepare it for industrial-scale manufacturing.

The stimulus bill passed by the U.S. Senate March 26 on a vote of 96-0 does more than throw $2.2 trillion into the war against COVID-19. “This is not … a stimulus package. It is emergency relief,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on the Senate floor before the vote.

The surge of interest in testing for the COVID-19 pathogen has led to some innovative tests and test strategies, including at-home tests. However, the FDA has indicated that it is wary of both at-home testing and specimen collection in other than supervised settings, a policy that is meeting with criticism from some quarters, but not all.

Astrotech Corp., of Austin, Texas, has a broad range, having developed mass spectrometers in agriculture and manufacturing and selling chemical analyzers for use in the airport security and other applications. Now, it is looking to help in the fight against COVID-19.

San Jose, Calif.-based Align Technology Inc. has won the FDA’s nod for its Itero Element 5D imaging system. The company said the Itero Element 5D is the first intraoral scanner with near-infrared imaging (NIRI) technology that visualizes the internal structure of the tooth in real time. The FDA cleared the device for the detection of interproximal caries lesions above the gingiva and for monitoring the progress of such lesions.

HONG KONG – Korean biopharma Celltrion Inc. said it’s halfway through the process of creating a super antibody to reign in the COVID-19 novel coronavirus that has claimed almost 13,000 lives globally.

Business as usual only three months ago has transformed into health care industry overdrive as biopharma and med-tech companies scramble to test and scale-up treatments, vaccines and diagnostics to address COVID-19.