LONDON – Cognetivity Neurosciences Ltd. has received CE software as a medical device approval for its cognitive assessment tool, a five-minute test intended as a diagnostic aid to identifying the earliest stages of dementia.
In the latest step toward making left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) easier and more accessible, the FDA recently approved a less invasive surgical approach for use with Abbott Laboratories’ latest LVAD, Heartmate 3. Now, rather than requiring risky open-heart surgery, the device can be implanted through an incision in the chest wall. Abbott gained Heartmate 3 in its 2017 acquisition of St. Jude Medical for $25 billion.
Cambridge, Mass.-based Blueprint Medicines Corp.’s price tag and label for Ayvakit (avapritinib) caused some chagrin on Wall Street as observers continued to weigh the drug’s odds against ripretinib, the competing drug for which Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Inc. awaits regulatory action.
PARIS – The Cour des comptes, supreme body for auditing the use of public funds in France, independent from government and parliament, has just released its report on the operation of the French National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM). Following 10 months of administrative and financial investigation, these financial controllers have highlighted the weakness of controls applied to medical devices placed on the market in France.
The U.S. has granted final approval to Microvention Inc., a subsidiary of Terumo Corp. based in Aliso Viejo, Calif., for its Flow Redirection Endoluminal Device (FRED) for the treatment of brain aneurysms. The flow diverter – Microvention’s third PMA approval in less than two years – is the first in the U.S. to utilize a self-expanding, braided nitinol mesh to aid in rerouting blood flow away from the weakened area and promote occlusion.