LONDON – While large-scale biobanks that link genomics to longitudinal health records of diagnosis, treatment and outcomes promise to revolutionize the understanding of the genetics of complex disease, the detailed statistical analysis of those high-dimensional data is still very much in its infancy.
PARIS – Biolog-id SAS, specialists in traceability and management of delicate health care products (red blood cells, plasma, platelets and chemotherapy substances), has just raised $33 million from fund managers Xerys Gestion. “Thanks to this new funding, we will be able to roll out our smart traceability solutions worldwide. These are used for managing labile blood products and plasma fractionation,” Jean-Claude Mongrenier, founder and CEO of the Boulogne-Billancourt, France-based company, told BioWorld MedTech.
The European Parliament this week formally agreed to delay the requirement for certain currently approved class 1 medical devices to comply with the new Medical Device Regulation (MDR) when it comes into force on May 26, 2020. Consequently, manufacturers of reusable surgical instruments and devices that have a measuring function will have an additional four years to meet the stricter requirements of MDR.
PARIS – A team of medical researchers and engineers from the Gustave Roussy Institute, in Villejuif, France, and Paris-Sud University recently developed an artificial intelligence system called Resolved2, designed to assess prospective cancer drugs. As Loïc Verlingue, lead cancer specialist on the data science team at the Gustave Roussy Institute, explained to BioWorld MedTech, “this AI is intended to predict efficiently whether a cancer treatment molecule will achieve authorization or not within six years of pharmacological data and phase I clinical trials.”
LONDON – Dutch startup Enzyre BV is teaming up with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. to complete development of a home diagnostic device that aims to make it as easy for hemophiliacs to self-test their coagulation status as it is for diabetics to monitor their blood sugar levels.
LONDON – Scientists in the U.K. are claiming a world first, after successfully reproducing the electrophysiology of biological neurons in silicon chips. It is said that artificial neurons respond to non-linear physiological feedback in real time, in exactly the same way as their biological counterparts. Crucially, in terms of their use in medical implants, the analogue chips have a power consumption 109 times lower than equivalent digital microprocessors, which other attempts to make synthetic neurons have used.
PARIS – Grapheal SAS, of Grenoble, France, is developing a new generation of dressings integrating an embedded electronic biosensor. The Grapheal device consists of monolayer graphene on a polymer layer 0.3 nanometers thick. “This noninvasive embedded device collects data from the wound. The wireless e-health wound monitoring system, or smart patch, remotely reports the status of chronic wounds to the care team,” Vincent Bouchiat, co-founder and CEO at Grapheal, told BioWorld MedTech.
LONDON – Advanced Oncotherapy plc is starting verification and validation of the world’s first linear proton beam accelerator system, which is assembled and ready for testing at the Daresbury particle physics laboratory in Cheshire, U.K.
PARIS – Dentressangle Initiative SAS, of Lyon, France, is in talks to buy a majority stake in Marle International Holding SAS, an orthopedic implant contract manufacturer. The acquisition is said to be worth $880 million, although Dentressangle has not confirmed this amount. “We are looking forward to supporting the management team in achieving its long-term goal for Marle, of offering higher value-added services to its clients and pursuing target acquisitions,” Thierry Coloigner, managing partner for mid and large cap at Dentressangle, told BioWorld MedTech.
LONDON – Long-awaited guidance on how software will be treated under the stricter EU devices regulations brings clarity but also adds to the mountain of preparations needed to comply with the new rules. The vast majority of software products that are treated as class I under the current rules – and therefore self-certified – will be upgraded to class IIa and higher under the Medical Devices Regulation (MDR) coming into effect in May 2020, and the In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation (IVDR), which takes effect May 2022.
RSS
