Med-tech happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Aethlon, Acuitas, Angel Medical, Avertix, Biovectra, Kalon Acquisition, Pharmachal Health, Labcorp, Ontogen Medtech.
The U.K. has launched the first-of-its-kind national total-body positron emission tomography (PET) imaging platform that will be ‘game-changing’ for clinical research. Funded with £32 million (US$39 million) from the government, the National PET Imaging Platform (NPIP) will enable clinicians and researchers to access never-before-seen data that will improve the detection, diagnosis and treatment of complex, multi-organ diseases.
The broadest view of post-mortem brains in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has unveiled the genome, transcriptome and epigenome alterations of this neurodegenerative condition. The coordinated research, directed by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), also described new cellular pathways that could help the scientific community design new therapies. Four simultaneous studies published on Sept. 28, 2023, in Cell, presented a brain single-cell atlas of AD, exposed the damage that affects DNA, and described the processes that alter the microglia and dysregulate the epigenome.
Boston Scientific Corp.’s plan to acquire Relievant Medsystems Inc. is part of its ongoing effort to address chronic pain which is significantly impacting the quality of life of millions of people. Relievant’s Intracept intraosseous nerve ablation system will give Boston Scientific another tool in its armory to tackle chronic pain which already includes radiofrequency ablation (RFA) solutions and spinal cord stimulator (SCS) systems.
At its annual investor day at the American Society for Radiation Oncology meeting in San Diego, Accuray Inc. reported that its Tomo C radiation therapy system obtained approval from the Chinese National Medical Products Administration for the country’s type B market. The system will be made in China through the company’s joint venture, CNNC Accuray (Tianjin) Medical Technology Co. Ltd.
Providing the right therapy at the right time has proven more difficult in the world of cancer than in other disease areas thanks to the variability in treatment response, but a new study hints that this problem may be at least partly solved for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A study presented at this year’s meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) in San Diego shows that circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) can provide therapeutic guidelines for oligometastatic forms of the disease, including when high-dose radiation therapy may or may not be indicated.
Neve Ilan, Israel-based Nano-X Imaging Ltd., had rocked the world of medical imaging with promises of X-ray imaging systems that provide low-cost tomosynthesis, but the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says the company overpromised on the low-cost claim. The SEC said the actual production cost of the Nano-X ARC systems is at least double the $12,000 per-unit figure routinely touted by the company’s former CEO, Ran Poliakine, a factual misrepresentation that helped the company raise $165 million in an initial public offering.