CAJICA, Colombia – The tiny Central American country of Costa Rica continues to cement its position as Latin America’s med-tech powerhouse after experiencing double-digit growth in exports in the first two months of the year, according to data released by Procomer, the country's exports promotion agency. “These numbers become more relevant when detailing that medical devices and precision equipment represent, for the third consecutive year, the country's main export, which had double-digit growth of 23%, thus representing 36% of the exports of the country,” the Costa Rican government said.

LONDON – A new route to the approval of drugs promises to smooth the path from clinical trials to approval, reimbursement and commissioning in the National Health Service, through closer and earlier collaboration between the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and health technology assessment bodies.

Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., in part because many cases aren’t diagnosed until they are advanced. Bluestar Genomics Inc. wants to change that with its epigenomics technology which can detect early pancreatic cancer from a standard blood draw by analyzing cell-free DNA in plasma. Now, the FDA has provided a bump, granting breakthrough device designation to Bluestar’s noninvasive pancreatic cancer detection test in patients with new-onset diabetes. According to the San Diego-based startup, of an estimated 60,000 patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the U.S., nearly a fourth are found to have new-onset diabetes prior to receiving their cancer diagnosis.