New research has filled in missing links between gene variants that have been implicated in disease through genome-wide association studies and how the variants drive disease pathology. The research involved using induced pluripotent stem cells derived from healthy donors and transforming them into macrophages. These were then exposed to 24 different stimuli mimicking infection and inflammation, and the gene expression profiles assessed six and 24 hours later, to see which genes were turned on or off in response.

The 50 million Europeans with peripheral artery disease have a new treatment option thanks to help restore blood flow to vessels below the knee now that Abbott Laboratories' Esprit BTK everolimus-eluting resorbable scaffold system has received CE mark. The stent, made of a material similar to dissolvable sutures, dissolves within three years.

After making a significant strategic investment in Oxganox Ltd. earlier this year, Terumo Corp. quickly returned to buy the organ preservation company. On Aug. 25, the companies announced that Terumo would acquire Organox for $1.5 billion, marking Terumo’s entry into the organ transplant sector. The transaction is one of the largest exits ever for the U.K. med-tech sector.

The U.S. and the EU have signed off on a trade deal, which makes some important provisions for generic pharmaceuticals. However, Medtech Europe said in an Aug. 21 statement that it is concerned about the exclusion of medical technology, given the potential for negative effects on patient care.

No matter what level of tariff the Trump administration ends up imposing on biopharmaceuticals across the world, drugs and their precursors originating in the EU will face no more than a 15% tariff when imported to the U.S., according to an Aug. 21 EU-U.S. joint statement regarding the trade framework agreement between the two trade partners.

Stimvia s.r.o.’s Uris system, which delivers peroneal electrical transcutaneous neuromodulation, successfully treated the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The non-invasive device, originally developed to treat overactive bladder, safely reduced tremors and improved the quality of life of the patients suffering from Parkinson’s.

Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration recently reported that it has concerns about the use of digital scribes, stating that any such software that analyzes or interprets clinical conversations may qualify as a regulated medical product.

Better Medicine OÜ raised €1 million (US$1.16 million) in a pre-seed funding round for its AI platform, Bmvision Kidney, which uses deep-learning models to detect malignant kidney lesions. The funds will be used to accelerate the rollout of the software across Europe and prepare for U.S. FDA clearance.

German researchers have cracked the decades-long mystery of why males are more susceptible to acute kidney injury than females, demonstrating that estrogen has a protective effect in females.

In a regulatory round-up, the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency opened a survey regarding in-house device manufacturing, the EU Notified Bodies staffed up last year and the Singapore Health Sciences Authority and the Hong Kong Department of Health agreed to share information.