The U.S. FDA has granted breakthrough device designation to Laboratory for Advanced Medicine Inc. (LAM) for its liquid biopsy blood test for the detection of liver cancer. The test, which analyzes the DNA methylation pattern of cell-free DNA (cfDNA), is designed to detect the presence of hepatocellular cancer as early as stage 1, with both high specificity and sensitivity.

The FDA's September 2018 draft guidance for considerations of benefit-risk determinations for several device types, including PMAs, said that the agency "intends" to hold an advisory committee hearing if the FDA has any questions about the post-market data generated by the accompanying post-approval study. The final guidance pulls back on that language, but only slightly, stating that the agency "generally expects" to hold an advisory hearing in this circumstance, a difference in language that may or may not translate to a difference in function.

Edwards Lifesciences Corp.'s buy of Cas Medical Systems Inc. (Casmed) this spring appears to have borne fruit. The Irvine, Calif.-based company reported that the U.S. FDA has granted clearance for a smart cable enabling compatibility between the company's Foresight tissue oximetry (brain oxygenation) sensors and the Hemosphere advanced monitoring platform.

A little less than a year after it reported the final close of a series D financing, Miracor Medical SA, of Awans, Belgium, has been granted breakthrough device designation by the U.S. FDA for its Pressure-Controlled Intermittent Coronary Sinus Occlusion (PICSO) Impulse System for the treatment of ST-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients.

DUBLIN – Shares in Pharnext SA plunged by more than 40% Friday on news that the FDA requires the company to undertake a second phase III trial of its Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A (CMT1A) therapy PXT-3003.

Drug pricing legislation will be high on the to-do list when the U.S. Congress returns from its August recess next week, as both the Senate and the House are expected to take action this month on competing packages of provisions aimed at controlling prescription drug prices.

While regulatory science can lag behind technology advances, the FDA has for the past few years been exploring ways to harness the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline drug development and the approval process. A nexus for its efforts is the Information Exchange and Data Transformation (INFORMED) initiative anchored in the agency's Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE). At its inception in 2016, INFORMED was designed to tap into the power of big data and advanced analytics to improve disease outcomes.

The U.S. FDA has cleared the way for Physiq Inc., of Naperville, Ill., to market its continuous ambulatory respiratory rate algorithm, adding to the company's portfolio of cloud-based analytics for biopharma and health insurance companies. The 510(k) notification will allow Physiq to boost its higher-level artificial intelligence (AI) platform with validated vital signs inputs.

HONG KONG – Olive Healthcare Inc., a South Korean biotech startup, said its abdominal fat scanner Bello has received an FDA approval to sell the device in the U.S. The company said it plans to launch the scanner in the country this December, after a market test. The miniature device is portable with a weight of 3.8 oz (107 g), measuring 3.9 inches (10 centimeters) long, 3.1 inches wide and 1.9 inches high.