Just days after Foster City, Calif.-based Gilead Sciences Inc. gained emergency use authorization (EUA) from the FDA for antiviral Veklury (remdesivir) for the treatment of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, the virus that causes COVID-19, Japan invoked its own exceptional approval pathway to give the drug the green light to treat patients with severe COVID-19.
Several companies have reported quarterly results over the past couple of days, and those offering testing for COVID-19 have seen impressive numbers. Standing out was San Diego-based Quidel Corp., whose numbers caught the attention of William Blair’s Brian Weinstein. Indeed, its $174.7 million in revenue far exceeded his organization’s estimate of $160 million, driven by influenza.
The U.S. National Institutes of Health recently announced a competitive grant opportunity for testing for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has been characterized as a “Shark Tank-like” program, and NIH director Francis Collins said in a May 7 Senate hearing that one of the criteria for awards is whether supplies can be made readily available for that test, the lack of which has been a significant impediment to testing in the U.S.
As states in the U.S. move past the initial push for tests to identify active COVID-19 infections, antibody tests are ramping up quickly to aid in disease surveillance and return-to-work screenings. The rush has spurred an explosion in serology tests, many hastily developed and of questionable value. However, as the pandemic enters its third month, some companies are offering high-accuracy tests with validated results.
The challenges to deploy diagnostic and surveillance testing for the COVID-19 pandemic will persist at least until a vaccine is ready if not well beyond that milestone. The state of COVID-19 testing as a regulated sector is a complex intersection of new and old technologies, questionable accuracy, availability hurdles, supply chain interruptions and problems with interpretation of results.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the world – and the face of diagnostics. In a matter of weeks, a host of companies has worked to develop tests to find those patients who currently have the disease, as well as those who have developed antibodies.
The latest global regulatory news, changes and updates affecting medical devices and technologies, including: 3M, Aesculap, Daddybaby, Guangdong Nuoakang Medical Technology.
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Bittium, Camber Spine, Grifols, Neumodx, Sherlock Biosciences.
Med-tech happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: 1Qbit, 3M, Advanced Biological Laboratories, Apteryx, Apple, Baebies, Coala Life, Copan Diagnostics, Eurofins Technologies, Fu-Rui, Genalyte, Gold Standard Diagnostics, Invitae, Irras, Novatec Immundiagnostica, Physiq, Senseonics, Shanghai Echosens Medical Equipment Technology, Stratasys, The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Varian Medical Systems, Virotec Diagnostics, Vystar, Wuxi Hisky Medical Technologies.