With the COVID-19 public health emergency ending in the U.S. next week, Congress is looking to use the lessons learned from the pandemic to draft a new iteration of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act to ensure the country is better prepared for the next pandemic.
Moleculight Inc. published a study on the impact of skin pigmentation on the clinical diagnosis of wound infection that could have profound implications for implicit or unconscious racial bias among diagnosticians. The paper in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities pointed to lack of clinical training and educational resources on diverse skin tones and of diagnostic tools to address unique clinical attributes of patients with darker skin tones.
The FDA gave the greenlight to Route 92 Medical Inc. for its Freeclimb 70 reperfusion system in the treatment of ischemic stroke. The 510(k) clearance includes a Freeclimb 70 aspiration catheter, as well as a Tenzing 7 delivery catheter.
In a draft guidance released May 2, the U.S. FDA provided recommendations for sponsors, investigators and other stakeholders for implementation of decentralized clinical trials (DCTs) to advance research in medical devices, drugs and biologics. This week’s announcement responds to the Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act, signed into law late last year, which required the agency to “issue or revise draft guidance that includes recommendations to clarify and advance the use of decentralized clinical studies to support the development of drugs and devices.”
Med-tech companies often use robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) to transform healthcare systems and improve patient outcomes. However, the current hype around generative AI, such as ChatGPT, and the explosion in the use of data are raising questions around regulation, reimbursement, and whether AI and robotics are the right tools for certain jobs, participants heard at the LSX World Congress in London.
Bausch + Lomb Corp. reported its U.S. launch of an ophthalmic viscosurgical device (OVD) designed to protect patients during cataract surgery. The Totalvisc viscoelastic system is a dual action chemical protection system that employs viscoelastics which have the properties of both a fluid and an elastic. Unlike its competitors it also features sorbitol to eliminate free radicals that cause oxidative damage in eye tissue.
Companies such asMedtronic plc have become risk averse and are unlikely to takeover early stage medtech firms, Ori Hadomi, vice president strategic initiatives & partnerships, at Medtronic, told delegates at the LSX World Congress in London. Hadomi, who joined Dublin-based Medtronic after his firm Mazor Robotics Inc. was taken over by the company in a $1.64 billion deal in 2018, told early-stage startups “don’t waste their time” in approaching the company.
Patient Square Capital bankrolled a new portfolio company, Elevage Medical Technologies, with $300 million to provide capital and strategic expertise to promising medical device companies. Evan Melrose, founding managing director of Spindletop Capital and a practicing family medicine physician, will lead Elevage.
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Cognixion, Formus Labs, Foundation Medicine.