The world’s largest genomics study in patients with life-threatening COVID-19 infections has uncovered 16 new genetic variants associated with severe disease and drawn up a roadmap for research into new therapies and diagnostics. The research involved comparing the complete genome sequences of 7,491 patients admitted to 224 intensive care units in the U.K. against those of 48,400 participants in Genomics England’s 100,000 Genomes project, and of a further 1,630 people who had mild COVID-19. While some of the gene variants found in the Genomicc study affect the function of a protein, others influence the amount of the protein that is expressed. An example is mucin-1, where overexpression led to worse outcomes.

The French government has unveiled future investment plans. It reported the “Innovative Medical Devices” plan as part of the France 2030 initiative, in support of the medical devices industry. At the start of 2022, an innovative “Healthcare 2030” initiative came into effect, which sees the mobilization of $8.35 billion in credit for the life sciences sector.

Amgen Inc.’s pioneering lung cancer drug, Lumykras (sotorasib), is set to become available to NHS patients in England, after cost-effectiveness body NICE recommended financing from the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) in final draft guidance.

LONDON – The U.K. Recovery trial has added a fourth drug to the list of therapies it has shown are effective in treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients, demonstrating the JAK inhibitor Olumiant (baricitinib) reduces the risk of death by 13% in seriously ill patients. That effect is in addition to treatment with dexamethasone, which became standard of care after the Recovery trial showed it reduced mortality by one-third in patients on ventilators.

Differential leg length is perhaps not the most common orthopedic problem in the medical literature, but the U.K. National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) sees a place for some sort of improvement over the standard of care.

LONDON – The European Commission (EC) has put forward proposals for a Data Act that is intended to both give users greater rights over their own data and allow greater third-party access. The Act sets out who can use and access data generated in the EU across all sectors of the economy. It is pitched by the EC as opening the doors to an under-used resource that will in turn promote research and innovation and create new markets in information services.

PARIS – Ziwig SAS has developed the Endotest saliva test, for quickly detecting endometriosis. François Golfier, head of the gynecology-obstetrics department at Angers University Hospital and chairman of the endometriosis committee for the National College of French Gynecologists and Obstetricians, claims this new generation of in vitro diagnostic medical devices is going to be a game-changer “as it finally allows this chronic debilitating disease to be detected sooner and within the space of just a few days.”

LONDON – Antibody-drug conjugate specialist Heidelberg Pharma AG has secured a route into Asia and a fresh injection of much-needed capital, in a licensing and equity deal with Huadong Medicine Co. Ltd. worth up to €930 million (US$1.1 billion).