Mahana Therapeutics Inc. obtained a CE mark for Parallel, a prescription digital therapeutic device to treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in conjunction with other IBS treatments. Developed by a team of U.K. psychologists, the three-month program delivers cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) via a web-based application.
MIT Media Labs spinoff Empatica Inc. secured the CE mark for its Aura system, a wearable solution for the monitoring and early alert of respiratory infections, including COVID-19. For use with people 14 and older, Aura is commercially available in Europe and the U.K., and for pilot purposes in the U.S. – pending FDA authorization. Aura’s algorithm analyzes vital signs from Empatica smartwatches, comparing data against the wearer’s historical baselines. In validation studies, Aura was able to detect patients with possible H1N1 influenza, rhinovirus or SARS-CoV-2 infection with 0.94 sensitivity. Detection occurred on average two days after infection.
The latest global regulatory news, changes and updates affecting medical devices and technologies, including: Stimulus passes, no Medicare sequestration relief; OIG cites improper claims for polysomnography; Four senators seek feedback on Section 101 hangup.
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Akesis, Breath Direct, Clew, Datar Cancer Genetics.
Just weeks after two unexpected cases of blood cancer landed trials of its investigational gene therapies for sickle cell disease (SCD) and beta-thalassemia on FDA-issued clinical holds, Bluebird Bio Inc. said it's talking to regulators about their resumption after what RBC analyst Luca Issi called a "partial exoneration" of the BB-305 lentiviral vector shared between the medicines.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Adaptive Phage, Amgen, Circ, Demerx, Idorsia, Kiromic, Lannett, Linnaeus, RDIF, Tarus, Vertex.
As the World Trade Organization (WTO) debate intensified this week over a demand to waive patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines and therapies, the group’s new director-general, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, urged members to “walk and chew gum” at the same time by working with “companies to open up and license more viable manufacturing sites now in emerging markets and developing countries. We must get them to work with us on know-how and technology transfer now.”
From the time it paused inspections of drug manufacturing sites a year ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA conducted only three foreign “mission-critical” inspections in fiscal 2020. Those were in Canada, Germany and India, according to a new U.S. Government Accountability Office report.
China’s most important annual government meetings, known as the “Two Sessions,” kicked off March 4 and biopharma executives that were also delegates to the National People's Congress (NPC) suggested that approval for trials should be stricter to avoid repetitive R&D and called for innovative drugs to get into the state insurance list – and to patients – faster.