SAN FRANCISCO – An implantable blood glucose sensor that is compatible with several insulin pumps as well as various automated software algorithms to form individualized closed-loop systems and can last for up to six months per use seems like a no-brainer. But Senseonics Holdings Inc. is on a very measured path to get there.
Boston startup Beta Bionics Inc. is headed into a pair of ambitious pivotal trials in 2020: one starting for an autonomous bionic pancreas device with insulin only and another to follow for a bihormonal version that also includes glucagon. These are expected to offer more precise, easy-to-use blood glucose maintenance for type 1 diabetes patients.
SAN FRANCISCO – Type 2 diabetes often becomes progressively more difficult to manage, moving from prediabetes that can be addressed via weight loss and exercise eventually through requiring multiple daily insulin injections. A novel procedure could offer the opportunity to turn back the clock for type 2 (T2) diabetes patients who are insulin-dependent.
SAN FRANCISCO – Type 2 diabetes often becomes progressively more difficult to manage, moving from prediabetes that can be addressed via weight loss and exercise eventually through requiring multiple daily insulin injections. A novel procedure could offer the opportunity to turn back the clock for type 2 (T2) diabetes patients who are insulin-dependent. Fractyl Laboratories Inc. has developed an outpatient procedure known as duodenal mucosal resurfacing (DMR) that, when used in combination with a GLP-1 receptor agonist drug, can reverse the need for insulin for type 2 diabetes patients who were previously insulin-dependent. That's according to data from a small study presented here on June 9 at the American Diabetes Association's 79th Scientific Sessions.
Rewalk Robotics Ltd. received U.S. FDA clearance for its second robotic medical device for people with lower limb disability. Known as the Restore soft exosuit system, it is cleared for use as part of physical therapy to aid stroke survivors with mobility problems. The Israeli company, which has additional headquarters in Marlborough, Mass., and Berlin, anticipates that the Restore soft exosuit may outstrip its existing Rewalk Personal 6.0 robotic exoskeleton for home use by patients with paralysis from spinal cord injury – and substantially contribute to a path to breakeven and profitability in the next couple of years.
Genomic diagnostic tests that help to guide toward personalized treatment for cancer patients seized the stage at this year's American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference in Chicago. Most prominently, a study of more than 10,000 women funded by the NIH's National Cancer Institute that reported results at last year's conference now offered the basis of dramatically revised ASCO guidelines limiting the use of chemotherapy in early stage breast cancer.
Screening for early stage cancer has gained a promising entrant with Thrive Earlier Detection Corp., which has raised a $110 million series A round to back its ongoing pan-cancer detection research. The Cambridge, Mass.-based startup was spun out of Johns Hopkins University, where the science backing it was already relatively far along.
