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.

Despite the growing concerns about the potential for the community spread of COVID-19 in the U.S., the FDA-FTC public workshop on competition in the biologics marketplace went ahead as scheduled March 9, playing to a full house with some audience members sitting in an overflow room. And all the invited speakers and people registered to speak during the open public hearing session showed up.

LONDON – The EU launched a “Corona” response team, bringing together oversight of all the separate strands put in place to control the virus, as the infection spread to 18 of 27 member states, with 2,100 confirmed cases and 31 deaths.

PARIS – The Syndicat National de l'Industrie des Technologies Médicales (SNITEM), the French national association of medical technology manufacturers, has just released a study looking at the development of this industrial sector in that country. This snapshot, produced every two years by the firm D&Consultants SAS on behalf of Courbevoie, France-based SNITEM and the bank Bpifrance SA, is based on a dual quantitative and qualitative approach.

PERTH, Australia – Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has issued a draft guidance to help sponsors better understand the evidence requirements for market authorizations for medical devices, including in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) and software as a medical device (SaMD).

Novocure Ltd. of St. Helier, Jersey, released preliminary fourth-quarter and full-year 2019 results, showing strong momentum with its tumor treating fields (TTF) technology, a noninvasive, antimitotic therapy delivered via the Optune device. Q4 revenue is expected to hit $99.2 million, up 42% from $69.7 million in the same period last year, with anticipated full-year revenue of $351.3 million, also up 42%. In the U.S., net revenues grew 49% to $65.9 million in the last financial quarter.  

The FDA has lost a product jurisdiction case in DC district court to Genus Medical Technologies LLC over its barium sulfate contrast agent. The judge in the case ruled that the agency violated the Administrative Procedures Act in ruling that the product is a drug, but the FDA will have another crack at the matter as the application for the product has been remanded to the FDA.