PARIS – Implanet SA won approval from its founding shareholders to acquire a majority stake in spinal implant manufacturer Orthopaedic & Spine Development SAS (OSD). Implanet’s bid is aimed at acquiring majority control, and potentially the entire share capital, of Avignon, France-based OSD, valued at $5 million. OSD’s founding shareholders, representing 71.5% of the capital, have already committed to respond favorably to the bid, thus confirming the principles behind this merger.

PARIS – Whitelab Genomics SAS has signed a partnership agreement with Genethon, a French research center in the field of gene therapy, to ramp up development of genetic therapy techniques using artificial intelligence (AI). As part of this partnership, Genethon will use the Whitelab Genomics Catalyst platform to develop new capsids.

Medtronic plc obtained the CE mark for its Sensight directional lead system for deep brain stimulation (DBS) for movement disorders and epilepsy, which is designed to be used with the company’s Percept PC DBS device. Percept received U.S. FDA clearance in June 2020 and CE mark in January 2020.

A large-scale metabolomics study of blood samples from 11,000 people has identified common biological links among a number of chronic non-communicable diseases, opening up the possibility of countering multiple diseases simultaneously.

PARIS – Carmat SA has just completed a capital increase of $66.4 million to boost development of its total artificial heart. The Aeson system was awarded CE marking four months ago, as a total bridge to transplantation for patients suffering with end-stage biventricular heart failure who are not eligible for maximal medical therapy or a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), and who are likely to undergo a heart transplant within 180 days of the implantation.

According to the latest annual overview published by trade association France Biotech, French med-tech, biotech, and e-health companies have adapted rapidly to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many French health care companies have faced real difficulties in all areas of procurement, R&D, and sales. As of February, a quarter of these French companies were redirecting their research activity towards the coronavirus.

LONDON – New research shows it is possible to diagnose Parkinson’s disease by mass spectrometry analysis of sebum samples taken with a simple skin swab, and that the same technique has potential to be used for diagnosing COVID-19. In a paper published in Nature Communications on March 11, 2021, scientists and clinicians in the U.K. and the Netherlands describe using high resolution mass spectrometry to profile the chemical signature of lipids and other biomarkers in sebum from Parkinson’s patients and show how these exhibit subtle but fundamental changes as the disease progresses.

Mahana Therapeutics Inc. obtained a CE mark for Parallel, a prescription digital therapeutic device to treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in conjunction with other IBS treatments. Developed by a team of U.K. psychologists, the three-month program delivers cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) via a web-based application.

MIT Media Labs spinoff Empatica Inc. secured the CE mark for its Aura system, a wearable solution for the monitoring and early alert of respiratory infections, including COVID-19. For use with people 14 and older, Aura is commercially available in Europe and the U.K., and for pilot purposes in the U.S. – pending FDA authorization. Aura’s algorithm analyzes vital signs from Empatica smartwatches, comparing data against the wearer’s historical baselines. In validation studies, Aura was able to detect patients with possible H1N1 influenza, rhinovirus or SARS-CoV-2 infection with 0.94 sensitivity. Detection occurred on average two days after infection.