The continuing politicization of COVID-19 vaccines is undermining medical science and the international response to the pandemic. “Vaccine nationalism is very troubling,” Jeremy Levin, chair of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s (BIO) executive committee, told BioWorld.

Insulet Corp. reported positive results from a pivotal trial of its Omnipod 5 automated insulin delivery system for patients with type 1 diabetes. The tubeless, wearable insulin delivery system lowered hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) – a critical diabetes measure – in children, adolescents, and adults, and improved the time that patients were in the target blood glucose range. The data was presented at ENDO 2021, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting, which was held virtually this year.

Thirteen months after establishing a strategic alliance to distribute 7D Surgical Inc.’s machine-vision, image-guided surgery platform, Seaspine Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SPNE) signed an agreement to acquire the Toronto-based company. 7D Surgical shareholders will receive $27.5 million in cash plus $82.5 million in Seaspine stock and will hold approximately 13% of Seaspine’s shares at completion. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021.

Although artificial intelligence (AI) seems to be making only incremental headway in the world of medical technology, Brainscope Co. Inc., continues to advance its AI offerings with the launch of the Concussion Index (CI). This algorithm, used with the company’s disposable headset, has been demonstrated to reduce the need for cranial CT scans by 30%, making this a double win for patients and for health care spending in the U.S.

PERTH, Australia – Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) released three final guidances on its expectations on clinical performance requirements and risk mitigation for in vitro diagnostic (IVD) self-tests. The guidances outline clinical performance requirements and key risks that must be mitigated for IVDs to be used as self-tests for seasonal influenza; hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV); and chlamydia, gonorrhea; and syphilis.

CAJICA, Colombia – The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the weaknesses of Mexico’s techno-vigilance system, along with a chronic lack of reporting of inventories and adverse effects related to medical devices in use. These weaknesses were exposed during previous pandemics but the country’s antiquated tracking and reporting system has not changed.