PARIS – Spartha Medical SAS reported an award of $2.7 million in grants with further, undisclosed equity financing from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, a body run by the European Commission established to make direct equity investment in European Union companies. This fund will be used to initiate clinical evaluation of its multifunctional coating technique.
University of Edinburgh spinoff Biocaptiva Ltd. is taking its cell free DNA (cfDNA) capture device to clinical trials in 2022 following promising preclinical results. The company’s platform technology is designed to increase the quantity of cfDNA available for liquid biopsy testing. Current liquid biopsy practices obtain cfDNA via a venous blood draw but the concentration of tumor-derived ctDNA can be too low for comprehensive testing. Biocaptiva’ device emerged from research at the University of Edinburgh investigating liquid biopsy technologies.
LONDON – The first human challenge study of SARS-CoV-2 infection has reported initial results, showing it is safe to infect healthy volunteers with the virus in controlled conditions, and paving the way for the model to be used to accelerate clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines, antivirals and diagnostics.
The U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has endorsed the use of selective laser therapy treatment (SLT) instead of eyedrops as treatment of chronic open-angle glaucoma (COAG) and ocular hypertension. The shift would seem to drive spending in the U.K. away from drugs and toward devices for a condition afflicting nearly 10% of citizens over the age of 75.
Stockholm-based Alex Therapeutics AB is joining forces with pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. to roll out digital therapies to patients in Germany. The partnership will utilize Alex Therapeutics' Alex DTx platform for nicotine addiction in Germany. The platform combines cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy with artificial intelligence (AI) to create treatments for a wide range of psychiatric and somatic disorders.
Galvani Bioelectronics Ltd. reported the first patient implanted with its experimental direct splenic nerve stimulation therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The first-in-human implant is part of a small trial at the NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board in Scotland.
A wearable biosensor developed by Scottish startup Pneumowave Ltd. has been tapped for a clinical trial investigating respiratory depression at King’s College London (KCL). Pneumowave’s respiratory monitoring platform will be used to collect breathing data from patients at risk of experiencing slow and shallow breathing as a side effect of opioid medication.
Innovheart srl has landed more than $55 million to continue clinical trials of its transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) system for the treatment of mitral valve disease. The series C equity round was led by Grand Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. (Grand Pharma), together with existing investors Genextra, Panakes Partners and Indaco Venture Partners.
PARIS – Mikajaki SA reported the commercial launch of Eyelib, a robotic ophthalmic diagnostics platform. One year after obtaining CE marking, the Swiss-based med-tech is rolling out a wide-scale launch of its automatic ophthalmology examination system onto the European market.
LONDON – The EU’s third generation public-private research partnership in health formally got off the ground on Jan. 26, with a promise to invest €2.4 billion (US$2.7 billion) and back 30 large-scale, cross-sector innovation projects by 2030. The Innovative Health Initiative is the successor to the Innovative Medicines Initiatives 1 and 2, which between 2008 – 2020 put €5 billion into precompetitive research to accelerate translation of biomedical research to new drugs.
RSS
