The FDA’s pre-IND response to Virpax Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s MMS-019, a molecular masking spray being developed as an over-the-counter product to limit transmission of SARS and influenza, has the company breathing easier and ready to chase an NDA. Virpax is in a crowded field of 43 COVID-19 intranasal therapeutics and vaccine programs.

Jorge Ulloa of Hancock Jaffe Laboratories Inc. presented positive results from a first-in-human trial of implantation with its Venovalve device at the Society for Vascular Surgery annual meeting in San Diego. Two years following surgery, outcomes included more than 60% improvements in reflux and disease manifestations and 93% decrease in pain in patients with chronic venous insufficiency with no safety issues or venous ulcer recurrences.

PARIS – Magnetic fields can be used to stimulate blood vessel growth, according to a new study published in Science and Technology of Advanced Materials. The discovery, by researchers from the University of Lisbon in Portugal, could lead to new treatments for cancer and help regenerate tissues that have lost their blood supply.

Illumina Inc.’s acquisition of cancer diagnostic specialist Grail Inc. is on go in a $7.1 billion transaction that is structured so that it can be unwound with limited impact on Illumina. However, a number of regulatory entities are closely scrutinizing the deal for a potential regulatory challenge, a fact of life that shaved nearly 10% off the value of the company’s shares in early Aug. 19 trading, and which could ultimately scuttle the transaction altogether.