The U.S. FDA has given the greenlight to Eko Devices Inc.’s electrocardiogram (ECG)-based algorithm to aid in detecting patients with heart failure during the COVID-19 pandemic. The artificial intelligence (AI)-powered algorithm, which provides a quick way to screen for low ejection fraction, won FDA breakthrough status in December of 2019.
The U.S. does not have a universal health care system, which means that it fails to provide a consistent level of minimum care across its population. That means that basic and preventative care often falls through the cracks, even as the U.S. continues to excel at medical innovation and offer the most highly regarded health care in the world to those who can afford it.
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Critical Alert, Eko, Novocure, Optina Diagnostics, Zai Lab.
Med-tech happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Access Scientific, Apiject, Atrium Health, Butterfly Network, Canon Medical, Carmat, Centene, Change Healthcare, Dermalog, DNA Electronics, The DNA Company, Drӓgerwerk, Edap Tms, Exact Imaging, Liva Healthcare, My Next Health, My Pain Sensei, Nuvo Group, Polyganics, Rapid USA, REMsleep Holdings, Smiths Medical, Surfacide, Thermo Fisher Scientific, United Healthcare Services, Wuxi Diagnostics, Xleratehealth.
LONDON – The U.K. is launching a £28 million (US$34.5 million) project to sequence the whole genome of every COVID-19 patient in the country treated in intensive care, with the aim of uncovering host genetic factors that lead some people to be more severely affected by the infection. The study will involve up to 20,000 people currently or previously treated in one of 170 intensive care units (ICUs), whose genomes will be compared to 15,000 people with a confirmed infection who had mild or moderate symptoms.
If nothing else, the unfolding coronavirus has advanced the implementation of a wide variety of digital health tools. Panelists at the World Medical Innovation Forum on May 11 explored several current use cases.
Quanterix Corp., of Billerica, Mass., reported that researchers have developed a COVID-19 antibody test with 1,000 times the sensitivity of current tests using its Simoa bead-based immunoassay platform.
Abbott Laboratories received FDA emergency use authorization (EUA) for its COVID-19 molecular test, which will run on the company's new Alinity m system, as well as its COVID-19 antibody blood test, which will run on the Alinity i system. The two actions bring to five the number of COVID-19 tests developed by the Abbott Park, Ill.-based company to receive EUAs.
The May 12 Senate hearing regarding the COVID-19 pandemic included the usual conversations about contact tracing, but Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he is “cautiously optimistic” that one of the vaccines currently in trial in the U.S. will work, but that it is unlikely a vaccine will be ready by September 2020. In contrast, Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir said testing capacity may reach 50 million tests per month by that time, thanks in part to the fact that antigen testing is now part of the FDA’s emergency use authorization mechanism.
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Caption Health, Cardiofocus, Cytosorbents, Helius Medical Technologies, Optiscan Biomedical, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Transit Scientific.