CAJICA, Colombia – The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the weaknesses of Mexico’s techno-vigilance system, along with a chronic lack of reporting of inventories and adverse effects related to medical devices in use. These weaknesses were exposed during previous pandemics but the country’s antiquated tracking and reporting system has not changed.
LONDON – The SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern that caused a wave of infection in Manaus, Brazil, in December and January has been found to be both more transmissible and to evade immunity conferred by prior natural infection with the virus. A combined Brazil/U.K. genome sequencing and epidemiological study found the variant, called P.1., is between 1.4 and 2.2 times more transmissible than earlier lineages, and can evade 25% to 61% of the protective immunity elicited by previous infection.
CAJICA, Colombia – Three countries have emerged as the key engines of growth for Latin America’s medical devices sector, accounting for the largest share of exports and investment in the space across the region and experiencing growth over the past decade that may have been supercharged by the COVID-19 pandemic.
COLOMBIA – South Korea’s molecular diagnostics firm Seegene Inc. is expanding operations in the Brazilian market after Anvisa, the country's health care surveillance agency, cleared its multi-assay product through a COVID-19 emergency pathway. Seegene manufactures Allplex, a SARS-CoV-2/FluA/FluB/RSV test able to screen and differentiate eight targets.
CAJICA, Colombia – After a lengthy process, French spinal-cord implants manufacturer Implanet SA received marketing authorization by Cofepris, the Mexican health care surveillance agency, to distribute its Jazz platform in the Latin American country. Martillac, France-based Implanet is now looking to train surgeons in Mexico to use its Jazz platform that is designed to improve the treatment of spinal pathologies requiring vertebral fusion surgery.
CAJICA, Colombia – Chembio Diagnostic Systems Inc., a point-of-care diagnostic company focused on infectious diseases, received the approval from Anvisa, the Brazilian health care surveillance agency, to distribute its tests in the Latin American market. The approval adds yet another test to the hundreds already approved in Brazil, where the market for such tests is quickly getting crowded sending prices down. Brazil is one of the countries most affected by COVID-19 with almost 6 million cases and 166,000 deaths, the third highest number of cases in the world.
CAJICA, Colombia – In a move to reduce bureaucratic procedures and fight backlogs, the Brazilian health care surveillance agency, Anvisa, softened its rules for the marketing authorization of class II medical devices in the Latin American country.
CAJICA, Colombia –The government of Costa Rica issued guidelines recently that will allow the country’s social security system to source the country's hospitals with ventilators produced by the faculties of the universities of the Latin American country, during the COVID-19 outbreak.
CAJICA, Colombia – Sales of breast implants have been badly hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic but one Costa Rica-based firm that makes them expects a rapid return to normal, thanks in part of the fact that many procedures are done in private clinics and relatively few people have canceled procedures. Sales of breast implants have been badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic as elective surgeries in most countries were put off.
BOGOTA – Mexican home appliances manufacturer Mabe Sa De Cv, from Mexico City, became a new member of the med-tech sector after taking the leap forward and joining the scores of companies around the world shifting their traditional manufacturing lines to develop med-tech products to fight COVID-19.