HONG KONG – Israel-based Vayyar Imaging Ltd. and Hong Kong-based Meditemi Co. Ltd. have teamed up to create a more intelligent care robot that provides a range of remote monitoring capabilities, including early detection of COVID-19 symptoms.

Toronto-based Titan Medical Inc. has inked a development and license agreement with Medtronic plc, of Dublin, to advance the development of single-port robotic-assisted surgical tools. A separate agreement gives Medtronic licensing rights to certain Titan intellectual property. The arrangement aligns with Medtronic’s goal of building its robotic-assisted surgery business and gives Titan’s financials a needed shot in the arm.

Hayward, Calif.-based Reflexion Medical Inc. reported a clinical collaboration with Merck & Co. Inc., of Kenilworth, N.J., to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in combination with biology-guided radiotherapy (BgRT) in multiple late-stage cancers. The goal is to establish whether treating multiple tumors with BgRT, a novel external beam radiotherapy treatment (EBRT) modality in development, is safe and amplifies Keytruda’s therapeutic effect.

LONDON – Neogenomics Laboratories Inc. is to make a $25 million equity investment in Inivata Ltd. and has taken an option to acquire all of the company as part of a U.S. commercialization agreement with the U.K. liquid biopsy specialist. Under the deal, Neogenomics will take over sales, marketing and billing for Inivata’s Invisionfirst circulating tumor DNA lung cancer test, which is intended to replace tissue biopsies.

Pharma and diagnostics giant Roche Holding AG, of Basel, Switzerland, has acquired Seattle-based Stratos Genomics Inc., an early-stage sequencing technology company, in a move aimed at advancing development of Roche’s nanopore sequencer. Financial terms of the deal, which was first reported on Friday, were not disclosed.

LONDON – Lateral flow diagnostics specialist Mologic Ltd. has teamed up with Biosure Ltd., manufacturer of the only CE approved HIV home testing kit, to produce a COVID-19 antibody self-test. The companies are combining Mologic’s validated IgG antibody lateral flow strip with Biosure’s test kit, and say the product will be ready for mass production at the beginning of June.

Digital therapeutics have had a tough time gaining traction in the last few years. They’ve been hampered by sometimes reluctant payers, providers and regulators who lack familiarity with the approach, which typically employs an app or other technology to treat a patient by supporting behavioral adjustments.

Brisbane, Calif.-based Caredx Inc. has reported a strategic alliance with Weill Cornell Medicine that makes the company the exclusive development and commercialization partner for Uromap, a urine-based gene-expression test for acute cellular rejection in kidney transplant recipients.

The restrictions on elective surgeries as hospitals struggle to manage the unfolding global pandemic are hitting medical device companies particularly hard. Abiomed Inc., which specializes in a tiny, minimally invasive heart pump to support heart failure patients, saw its first fiscal fourth-quarter revenue flatten as procedures were postponed. Still, U.S. revenue remained stronger than Wall Street had expected, even as ex-U.S. revenue had deeper declines.

LONDON – Leading genome sequencing groups are launching the first meta-analysis in the hunt for genetic factors that explain why some people have worse COVID-19 symptoms than others, after agreeing to share patient sequence data from around the world. The COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative (CHGI), set up by scientists at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), now includes 151 registered studies that are searching for genetic variation associated with severity and outcomes.