LONDON – Endomag Ltd. has received endorsement from the U.K. health technology assessment body NICE, opening the way to broader adoption of its Magtrace non-radioactive cancer staging technology in the National Health Service, and providing backing for commercialization of the system in other markets.

Johnson & Johnson has announced new data supporting use of its COVID-19 vaccine as a booster shot, after separate trial data from the U.K. showed effects of several vaccines waned after six months.

Less than two weeks after Fibrogen Inc. received an FDA complete response letter for its hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase (HIF-PH) inhibitor, Evrenzo (roxadustat), Astellas Pharma Inc. and Fibrogen have won European Commission approval for the drug to treat symptomatic anemia associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in adults. The approval, which followed a positive CHMP opinion in June, triggered a $120 million milestone payment from Astellas to Fibrogen. In addition, Fibrogen will receive royalties on EU sales of the drug.

PARIS – The High Authority for Health (HAS) in France recently published a 165-page report on use over 10 years of long term mechanical circulatory assist devices (MCS). HAS conducted this wide-ranging study to review the conditions for the management of MCS devices, technology that has been constantly evolving over the past decade.

Lightpoint Medical Ltd. is stepping up commercialization activities and collaborating with Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. on radio-guided cancer surgery. The companies plan to initiate prostate cancer clinical trials evaluating Lightpoint’s Sensei with Telix’s investigational prostate cancer single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging agent TLX599-CDx.

For most people, neither polyglutamine disorders nor neuromuscular disorders are likely to be among the things they associate with androgen receptor (AR) dysfunction. But the three are indeed linked. And researchers have reported new insights into the nature of those links that could lead to a treatment for spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy, and possibly other disorders linked to AR signaling dysfunction.

PARIS – Magnetic fields can be used to stimulate blood vessel growth, according to a new study published in Science and Technology of Advanced Materials. The discovery, by researchers from the University of Lisbon in Portugal, could lead to new treatments for cancer and help regenerate tissues that have lost their blood supply.

LONDON – The latest data from the large-scale randomized U.K. COVID-19 infection survey confirm vaccines are less effective against the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that is now dominant across the U.S., Europe and elsewhere in the world.

LONDON – The latest data from the large-scale randomized U.K. COVID-19 infection survey confirm vaccines are less effective against the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that is now dominant across the U.S., Europe and elsewhere in the world.

Researchers have shown that glucocorticoids, a type of steroid hormones, target both neuroplasticity-related genes and genes related to ciliary function in the brain. However, the effects on the different processes are mediated via different receptors, and in response to different stimuli. A study investigated the specific targets of glucocorticoids, giving new insights into the biological mechanisms of stress adaptations, and how they are linked to neural plasticity.