The French and German governments have just announced a major project to develop a digital platform for the early detection of new respiratory pathogen epidemics, and then monitor their spread and inform decisions on appropriate counter measures. The COVID-19 crisis has confirmed the need for a resilient multi-stakeholder surveillance and control system to manage current and future epidemics or pandemics.
Ethylene oxide (EtO) has been a mainstay in medical device sterilization for decades, but fears of carcinogenicity sparked protests outside EtO sterilization plants in Georgia and Illinois in 2018. While the COVID-19 pandemic overrode those concerns for two years, the FDA has opened a pilot program for conversion of sterilization methods that would require fewer regulatory filings than would otherwise be the case.
Futura Medical plc has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with over the counter (OTC) distributor Cooper Consumer Health SAS to commercialize its topical, gel-based erectile dysfunction (ED) treatment Med3000, in the U.K. and Europe. Under the terms of the agreement, Cooper will pay an undisclosed price to Futura to manufacture and supply the product for five years, in compliance with EU competition law.
Proving that reproduction remains a fecund market for investment, Israeli startup Fairtility Ltd. closed a $15 million series A funding round. Led by Boston-based Gurnet Point Capital with support from Nacre Capital and others, the round boosted Fairtility’s funding to date up to $18.5 million.
Although it was recently overturned in a legal challenge, a short-lived California state law mandating gender quotas for corporate boards may have made a few drug and device companies based in the state think twice about the makeup of their boards.
Med-tech happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Aesthetic Management, Alpha Tau Medical, Estar Medical, GE Healthcare, Histosonics, Micro-Tech Endoscopy, Thermo Fisher, Wision.
Primary care doctors in England have been told by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to prescribe a digital therapeutic instead of sleeping tablets for patients suffering with insomnia. Sleepio, an app developed by London-based Big Health Ltd. that uses an algorithm to provide personalized cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), could benefit up to 800,000 people, according to NICE. It is recommending use of the app as an effective alternative to drugs such as zolpidem and zopiclone, after weighing evidence from 28 studies, including 12 randomized controlled trials.
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