The U.K. government and the health care industry should focus more on behavioral-based approaches and preventative care in a bid to tackle health inequality, rising costs and an ageing population, Anton Derlyatka, CEO and co-founder of Sweatcoin Ltd., told BioWorld. Sweatcoin is a step-counting app that rewards users for their daily steps. The company has worked with the NHS for the last three years and is currently working on pilot programs to help tackle type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases by incentivizing people to move.
As quicker, more accurate ways to detect dementia becomes ever more urgent, Cumulus Neuroscience Ltd. has teamed up with the Universities of Bath and Bristol in the U.K. to further develop the Fastball electroencephalogram (EEG) test, a diagnostic test for earlier detection of Alzheimer’s dementia. With one in three people born in the U.K. today likely to develop dementia at some point in their lives, early diagnosis and treatment are essential for them to plan for their future.
Anbio Biotechnology Ltd. launched the Anbio AF-100S, an automated, compact and affordable fluorescent immunoassay (FIA) solution that it hopes will transform the field of clinical diagnostics and empower healthcare providers. The AF-100S FIA is a handheld point-of-care immunodiagnostic solution that provides rapid, accurate and reliable results for a wide range of analytes.
Neura Robotics GmbH closed a $55 million funding round that will allow the company to expand its operation into the U.S. and Japan and increase its production infrastructure in Germany amid growing demand. The company, which builds cognitive robots, has an order book which exceeds $450 million.
In a pivotal milestone for Memed Ltd., the U.S. FDA cleared its Memed BV test on whole blood samples, which will help health care providers distinguish between bacterial and viral infections. The test, which yields results in as little as 15 minutes, can reduce the risk of unnecessary prescriptions which is a key driver of antibiotic resistance.
Organox Ltd. raised £25 million (US$33 million) in a funding round that will allow the company to expand its operations in the U.S. on the back of significantly increasing demand from transplant centers, Oern Stuge, executive chairman, at Organox told BioWorld. The Oxford, U.K.-based company which makes systems to preserve and transport livers for transplant is also preparing for its eventual listing on Nasdaq, he added.
Caristo Diagnostics Ltd. is deploying its medical imaging technology, Cari-Heart, at several NHS hospitals in a pilot project that will help identify patients at risk of heart attack years before it occurs. Cari-Heart detects signs of inflammation around coronary arteries. “No other company is doing this,” Frank Cheng, CEO of Caristo told BioWorld. “No one is using CT to quantify and visualize coronary inflammation” to predict the risk of a heart attack years in advance.
Inovedis GmbH received clearance from the U.S. FDA for its Sinefix implant system, which can be used to repair rotator cuff tears. Sinefix allows surgeons to refix the rotator cuff tendon to the bone using a simplified surgical technique that aims to significantly reduce the time and cost of the procedure.
Sonio SAS closed its series A fundraising round raising $14 million that will go some way in helping the company deliver on its mission to improve access to quality pregnancy monitoring for women everywhere through its software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform. Sonio has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) prenatal screening solution that automates ultrasound reporting while providing image quality control and detection of potential anomalies. The capital raise was led by Cross-Border Impact Ventures, a North American impact fund dedicated to the health of women and children.
The European Commission (EC) fined Illumina Inc. a record €432 million (US$476 million) for closing the acquisition of Grail Inc. before receiving regulatory approval. It is the highest fine ever imposed on a company by the EC for completing a deal without its consent. Grail was fined €1,000. The companies were found to be in breach of EU merger control rules.
