More than 62% of the volume and 63% of the projected values of med-tech deals completed in 2020 are for one of two things: COVID-19 diagnostics and devices or digital health technologies that fall outside of the pandemic efforts. As of late September, BioWorld has tracked 1,012 deals this year – including licensings, collaborations and joint ventures – valued at $3.67 billion, as well as 272 completed mergers and acquisitions valued at $8.53 billion.
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Becton Dickinson, Genetron, Ka Imaging, Perkinelmer, Sentiar, Vexos.
As his firm unveiled early data with its spike protein-targeting COVID-19 therapy, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s chief scientific officer, George Yancopoulos, said that, even if researchers come up with a drug that works, coming up with efficient point-of-care diagnostics remains “a major societal imperative.”
CAJICA, Colombia – Privately held Inosan Biopharma SA De Cv, of Mexico City, is racing to develop a biological treatment to cure COVID-19 patients. Inosan has mastered the technique of using horses to produce antibodies to heal patients bitten by poisonous creatures, such as snakes, spiders and scorpions.
PERTH, Australia – Starpharma Holdings Ltd. completed a AU$45 million (US$32 million) placement to domestic and international investors that will see it advance its COVID-19 antiviral nasal spray. The treatment is based on the company’s antiviral dendrimer, SPL-7013, which inactivates viruses by blocking the interaction between viral surface proteins and the human cell receptor proteins.
LONDON – Oxford Immunotec plc is aiming to plug a significant gap in the COVID-19 diagnostics landscape, with the development of a commercial clinical grade test for quantifying T cell responses to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. T-Spot Discovery SARS-CoV-2, currently available for research use only, is based on the same automated technology as the company’s tuberculosis diagnostic, which is approved for use in more than 60 countries.
TORONTO – Toronto-based Oncall Health Inc. has raised CA$7.9 million (US$6 million) in series A funding to help health care organizations lessen COVID-19’s impact on their EMR and other operational programs. An even more ambitious goal, said CEO Nicholas Chepesiuk, is to streamline delivery of virtual health care across a range of small to large U.S.-based organizations “in a way that makes sense for their brand and their workflow.”
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