LONDON – Epidarex Capital announced the closure of its £102.1 million (US$126.3 million) third fund, which will invest in very early stage biomedical and med-tech spin-outs from high-class but “under-ventured” universities in regions of the country where venture money is in short supply.

PARIS – Stilla Technologies SAS, of Villejuif, France, is supplying a new, cost-effective approach for COVID-19 testing by combining its digital polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology with the group testing method. “This approach greatly increases testing capacity and meets the highest quality standards,” Rémi Dangla, co-founder and CEO of Stilla Technologies, told BioWorld.

Lausanne, Switzerland-based Debiotech SA and Neokidney BV, of Amsterdam, have created Nextkidney SA to lead the development and commercialization of Neokidney, a lightweight, plug-and-play, home hemodialysis device.

PARIS – Agfa-Gevaert Group NV, of Mortsel, Belgium, has sold parts of its health care information technology (IT) business to Italy’s Dedalus Holding SpA for $1.1 billion. The divested interests include health care information solutions activities and integrated care activities in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and Brazil, as well as certain IT imaging activities in these territories. It represents about half of Agfa Healthcare’s business.

LONDON – In the first major breakthrough in therapeutics for COVID-19 infection, dexamethasone has been shown to have a statistically significant impact on mortality in the most seriously ill patients.

LONDON - The EU has secured a supply of the most advanced COVID-19 vaccine in development, in a deal with Astrazeneca plc for up to 400 million doses of AZD-1222, with deliveries starting by the end of 2020.

LONDON – EU health ministers have given the go-ahead for the European Commission to negotiate COVID-19 vaccines contracts on behalf of all 27 member states, approving the use of a €2.3 billion (US$2.6 billion) emergency fund for down payments.

Medtronic plc, of Dublin, has gained CE-marking approval for its Minimed 780g system, a next-generation closed-loop insulin pump for people with type 1 diabetes between the ages of 7 and 80 years old. The advanced hybrid closed-loop system (AHCL) features an advanced autocorrection algorithm and Bluetooth connectivity.

LONDON – The European Commission is laying plans for joint procurement of COVID-19 vaccines on behalf of all 27 EU member states, and is in discussions to agree on a harmonized approach to access and who gets vaccinated first.

PARIS – Robocath SAS, of Rouen, France, has secured a new $43 million funding round to boost roll-out of its R-One robotic system for treating vascular disease. This series C funding was led by Hong Kong-based Microport Scientific Corp.