Two companies – Head Diagnostics Ltd. and Octave Bioscience Inc. – identified biomarkers that could provide objective assessments of disease progression and response to treatment for patients with multiple sclerosis.
News out of the Heart Rhythm Society 2024 meeting May 16-19 highlighted the rapid disruption pulsed field ablation (PFA) devices have wrought in cardiac arrhythmia treatment, so it is little surprise to see that PFAs are among the top five technologies with transformative potential identified by Clarivate plc in its Medical Technologies to Watch in 2024 report. The impact of the other four – continuous glucose monitors (CGM) for diabetes, neurostimulation devices, surgical robotics and renal denervation – has been just as revolutionary, if longer in being realized.
Oncohost Ltd. provided new details on a novel application for its proteomic pattern analysis technology at Biomed Israel last week. While its initial development focused on using a single blood sample to guide selection of first-line immunotherapy for cancer based on likelihood of response, the Prophet platform now also predicts severe adverse immune-related events, Oncohost CEO Ofer Sharon told BioWorld.
Despite the ongoing war, speakers at Biomed Israel this week reported that business and investment in Israel’s med-tech industry continues largely unchanged.
Milleporesigma, Merck KGaA’s North American life sciences business, agreed to acquire Mirus Bio LLC from Gamma Biosciences LP for $600 million. Mirus develops tailored transfection solutions that deliver nucleic acid into cells used in production of viral vector-based gene therapies. It also provides contract development and manufacturing services. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2024, subject to U.S. regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
News out of the Heart Rhythm Society 2024 meeting May 16-19 highlighted the rapid disruption pulsed field ablation (PFA) devices have wrought in cardiac arrhythmia treatment, so it is little surprise to see that PFAs are among the top five technologies with transformative potential identified by Clarivate plc in its Medical Technologies to Watch in 2024 report. The impact of the other four – continuous glucose monitors (CGM) for diabetes, neurostimulation devices, surgical robotics and renal denervation – has been just as revolutionary, if longer in being realized.
Liquid biopsy typically means blood testing, but several companies presenting at Biomed Israel May 21-23 have developed diagnostics that look to other, even less invasive options, and ever broader applications. Nevia Bio Ltd. is using vaginal secretions to detect ovarian cancer, while Early OM Ltd. and Nucleix Ltd. analyze urine for cancer biomarkers.
The major players in electrophysiology – Boston Scientific Corp., Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic plc, Abbot Laboratories – showed up in force at the 2024 Heart Rhythm Society annual meeting in Boston May 16-19 to tout their pulsed field ablation devices and study results.
Pulsed field ablation dominated the news out of the Heart Rhythm Society meeting this week with three late-breaking studies highlighting the safety and efficacy of the technology replacing thermal ablation for treatment of atrial fibrillation and active discussion of the ‘unprecedented’ growth of these procedures. Boston Scientific Corp’s Farapulse is rapidly building dominance in the field, while results from Johnson & Johnson’s Varipulse study and Medtronic plc’s trial of the Affera system set up those companies for U.S. FDA approval later this year.
The Surveillance Heartcare Outcomes Registry trial demonstrated that Caredx Inc.’s Heartcare test identifies acute cellular rejection in heart transplant patients better than donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) alone, while reducing biopsies and improving clinical outcomes. Heartcare combines two non-invasive tests, dd-cfDNA and Allomap Heart gene-expression profiling.
