Siemens Healthineers AG snagged a key role in the mystery playing out across the world's pandemic stage – what do antibody test results mean in terms of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and how do different tests assessing different proteins compare? The U.S. CDC and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission tapped the Erlanger, Germany-based company to take the lead in developing a process to standardize antibody assays.

LONDON – With just four months to go until Brexit is activated, the start of September finally saw the med-tech industry get official guidance on the licensing regime for medical devices in the U.K. once the Medicines and Healthcare Products Agency (MHRA) becomes the standalone regulator Jan. 1, 2021.

PARIS – For the past three years, French health care establishments, hospitals, radiotherapy centers and medical biology laboratories have had to report any security incidents affecting their IT systems. The French national agency for digital health care (ANS) has just released its latest annual report.

Oncomfort SA finalized a €10 million (US$11.8 million) series A fundraising round to further develop its Digital Sedation product and pursue international expansion. Debiopharm and Crédit Mutuel Innovation led the round with participation from Wallonia Innovation and Growth and previous investors.

The Lifetime Initiative released a roadmap to revolutionize health care in Europe by implementing cell-based interceptive medicine in a perspective article published Sept. 7 in Nature.

PARIS – Novacyt SA has obtained CE marking approval for its polymerase chain reaction (PCR) respiratory virus test panel, Winterplex.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues into the fall, Roche Group is planning to launch its latest tool later this month. And while its SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antigen Test will be available in markets accepting the CE mark, the company is expecting the filing for emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. FDA. Roche’s test is a rapid chromatographic immunoassay intended for the qualitative detection of a specific antigen of SARS-CoV-2 present in human nasopharynx.

The Court of Justice for the European Union (CJEU) has invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, a mechanism designed to ensure the privacy of EU citizens’ data when conveyed to other nations in a manner consistent with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Makers of drugs and devices are not without recourse in transferring patient data to the U.S. for clinical trials conducted in Europe, but industry must revisit their standard contractual clauses to ensure those protocols provide the necessary privacy provisions, or face fines that could amount to tens of millions of euros.

Medtronic plc reported first-quarter worldwide revenue of just over $6.5 billion, a decrease of 13% as reported. As Cowen’s Josh Jennings wrote, the company’s results were better than expected, with an organic revenue growth decline of 17% vs. the Street’s prediction of a 25% decrease.