LONDON – The extent to which existing DNA databases fail to reflect human genetic diversity is laid bare in the most geographically comprehensive sequencing initiative to date. The study applied the latest sequencing techniques to 929 genomes from 54 diverse populations around the world.

LONDON – As the epicenter of the COVID-19 epidemic shifted to Europe and the number of deaths in Italy exceeded the toll in China, the EU stepped up efforts to mount a coordinated response, with a big boost for collaborative R&D funding and a call for clinical research to be pooled in multicenter, multi-arm randomized controlled trials.

As COVID-19 testing remains elusive in the U.S., much of the nation’s focus has started to shift to how to treat the presumed millions of patients who are already or soon to be infected with the novel coronavirus.

PERTH, Australia – On the heels of scoring a CE mark for its Novosorb biodegradable temporizing matrix (BTM) in the EU, Melbourne-based Polynovo Ltd. crossed its first AU$2 million (US$1.3 million) month in December sales for its initial commercial product.

PARIS – Quantum Surgical SAS, of Montpellier, France, has been awarded development aid amounting to $2.25 million in grants and repayable loans from Bpifrance bank, as part of the French Deeptech program.

Keystone Heart Ltd., of Caesarea, Israel and Tampa, Fla., scored a win in Europe after obtaining the CE mark for the Triguard 3 cerebral embolic protection (CEP) device. It is designed to minimize the risk of cerebral damage by deflecting embolic debris away from cerebral circulation during transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and other transcatheter heart procedures. According to the company, the device is the only product with a CE mark designed to cover and protect all three major cerebral aortic arch vessels.

LONDON – The EU launched a “Corona” response team, bringing together oversight of all the separate strands put in place to control the virus, as the infection spread to 18 of 27 member states, with 2,100 confirmed cases and 31 deaths.

LONDON – The COVID-19 epidemic has reached a “decisive point” as the number of new cases in the rest of the world exceeded the number of new cases in China, and seven countries reported infections for the first time.

PARIS – Vygon SA, of Ecouen, France, has acquired Advanced Perfusion Diagnostics SA (APD), a startup based in Lyon, France, that has developed Ikorus, a device that detects changes in visceral microvascular blood flow in the most critically ill hospital patients. Vygon did not disclose the financial details behind the agreement.

PARIS – The Syndicat National de l'Industrie des Technologies Médicales (SNITEM), the French national association of medical technology manufacturers, has just released a study looking at the development of this industrial sector in that country. This snapshot, produced every two years by the firm D&Consultants SAS on behalf of Courbevoie, France-based SNITEM and the bank Bpifrance SA, is based on a dual quantitative and qualitative approach.