PERTH, Australia – After gaining European clearance for its Eugeni COVID-19 rapid antigen test, Anteotech Ltd. reported a A$12 million (US$9.3 million) capital raise to launch its first global product that will help screen travelers, making it easier and safer to open borders. The Brisbane, Australia-based company was largely unheard of before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but it has emerged as one of the few companies that has developed a low-cost, high sensitivity rapid COVID-19 test.

HONG KONG – Researchers at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) have developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-based system for the automated, rapid and accurate detection of COVID-19 infections in chest computed tomography (CT) images. The system can provide immediate results, without the need for clinicians to interpret images. It could be potentially used in radiology imaging departments in hospitals.

PERTH, Australia – Advanced Human Imaging Ltd. (AHI) has created an algorithm that allows users to take a few quick scans on a smartphone to create a human avatar of themselves that can calculate risk for certain diseases and help diagnose conditions earlier, while also saving money. The Perth-based company is attracting a lot of attention, announcing three deals in the last week. The imaging technology has a myriad of uses from providing digital health scans to personal training to diagnosing skin cancers.

A study led by Chinese radiologists at Peking University in Beijing has shown that positron emission tomography imaging of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) expression is a predictor for the abscopal effect, whereby nonirradiated cancers respond to radiotherapy.

HONG KONG – Celltrion Inc. continues its quest to take its Diatrust COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test overseas, after receiving the FDA’s emergency use authorization (EUA). The Incheon, South Korea-based company also submitted results of clinical trials in which 450 people throughout the U.S. were tested between February and March 2021 to the regulator, with the trial results currently under review.

HONG KONG – Beijing Stonewise Technology Co. Ltd., a med-tech firm that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to aid in the discovery of small molecule drugs, closed series B and B+ financing rounds that added $100 million to its pocket. The company intends to use the proceeds to upgrade its AI-enabled drug discovery platform.

PERTH, Australia – In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Trajan Scientific and Medical Ltd. and Synexa Life Sciences Ltd. have developed and validated a SARS-CoV-2 serology assay that enables more efficient, population-based monitoring of the longevity of COVID-19 vaccines being deployed and to help determine the timing and deployment of booster vaccinations.

Prenetics Ltd. is working with Oxford University researchers again to develop molecular diagnostic testing for the new COVID-19 variants, six months after it acquired Oxsed Ltd., a University of Oxford University spinoff to enable rapid airport testing. On April 19, Hong Kong-based Prenetics inked a multimillion-dollar partnership with the University of Oxford and Oxford Suzhou Center for Advanced Research (OSCAR) to upgrade the molecular testing technology Oxlamp for infectious diseases.

HONG KONG – Beijing Stonewise Technology Co. Ltd., a med-tech firm that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to aid in the discovery of small molecule drugs, closed series B and B+ financing rounds that added $100 million to its pocket. The company intends to use the proceeds to upgrade its AI-enabled drug discovery platform.

HONG KONG – A professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) claims that retinal eye scanning can help to improve early detection of autism and treatment outcomes for children. Benny Zee, a professor at CUHK, has developed a method to identify children at risk of autism and get them into treatment programs sooner.