A mitochondrial glutamine transporter variant of the SLC1A5 gene is a key regulator of glutamine metabolism and metabolic reprogramming in cancer cells, and targeting such transporters could be a new strategy for controlling tumor growth, Korean researchers reported online in the Dec. 19, 2019, edition of Cell Metabolism.
HONG KONG – To boost the competitiveness of its medical device industry, South Korea will invest ₩1.2 trillion (US$10.3 billion) in medical device R&D over the next six years. Despite some high expectations for the new support, there are concerns about inefficient budget execution, and that the scheme is too short a term.
Drug diversion in hospitals is a serious concern, facilitated in part by inadequate security controls that allow unauthorized staff to access the pharmacy stock. To help thwart this problem and improve medication management, Taipei, Taiwan-based Cyberlink Corp. and Imedtac Co. Ltd. are teaming up to bring facial recognition technology to the hospital medicine cabinet.
HONG KONG – Chinese med-tech regulators said in December that conditional approvals are now available to medical devices after the government created speedy review channels for devices that the country needs.
With many on Wall Street transfixed by the three injectable calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) therapies cleared in the prophylactic migraine market, Satsuma Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s prospects with STS-101 may have gone overlooked, at least until lately.
HONG KONG – Aiming to attract more active innovation to its medical device industry, South Korea updated some of its industry regulations through 2019. The ultimate goal was to make it easier for advanced medical technologies that use artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and 3D printing that have yet to penetrate the market due to inefficient approval processes.
MALAYSIA – Asian countries, like India, have been struggling to find a middle ground to the effective pricing of drugs and medical devices over the past year and several are looking at health technology assessment (HTA) programs as a solution for this issue in the coming year. Boston-headquartered consulting firm Analysis Group Inc. recently looked at how HTA programs in Japan, South Korea and China varied and what could be gleaned from their experiences.
HONG KONG – South Korea’s Medical IP Co. Ltd., an artificial intelligence (AI)-based medical 3D printing and software company, has won the FDA’s nod for its medical imaging analysis solution Medical Image Processing (Medip).
HONG KONG – South Korean med-tech venture Recens Medical Inc. has secured ₩7 billion (US$6 million) in series B funding. Lb Investment Inc., Kb Securities Co. Ltd., Bnk Securities Co. Ltd., Hyundai Venture Investment Corp. and Lighthouse Combined Investment Co. Ltd. participated in the investment.
HONG KONG – Pentax Medical Co., of Tokyo, has gained CE marking for its artificial intelligence-based polyp detector Discovery. The detector assists endoscopists in finding potential polyps during a colorectal examination. The software has been trained using more than 120,000 files from about 300 clinical cases.