Berlin – Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA reported that its global division, Fresenius Medical Care, and its Frenova Renal Research division have enrolled the first subjects in its new initiative to develop the largest genomic registry in the world to focus on kidney disease. At the same time, the German firm also announced that Ali Gharavi, chief of the division of nephrology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, will lead the project and provide scientific guidance as principal investigator.

Blue Ocean Spine GmbH has won a major investment from SHS GmbH, also from Tuttlingen in Germany, to develop its next-generation functional spinal implant. The two companies are declining to disclose the size of the series A investment.

PARIS – Ecential Robotics SAS has just secured $120 million series C funding in equity and debt financing, to support the manufacturing and commercial development of its robotic platform for spinal surgery. This is the largest financial transaction undertaken by any med-tech company in France.

PARIS – Four years after being set up in Marseilles, France, Volta Medical SAS reported raising $28 million in a series A round for the VX1 software mapping system, an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that is compatible with most readily available multipolar catheters and technology used in operating rooms and cath labs to treat cardiac arrhythmia.

BERLIN – The German government has just made $3.6 billion available to the Future of Hospitals Act (Krankenhauszukunftsgesetz, KHZG), through the liquidity reserve of the health fund in order to support public hospitals with digital transformation. Besides this government cash injection, an additional $1.6 billion will be made available through co-funding by the German federal states, the 16 Länder. In total, German hospitals will get a $5.2 billion funding to boost digitization.

PARIS – Neos Surgery SL has been awarded funding under the leading European program for innovative SMEs, the EIC accelerator. (previously known as SME Instrument). This Spanish med-tech company was one of just 38 projects selected from among 4,200 applicants from 18 countries across Europe. Neos has been awarded a non-repayable grant of $2.3 million towards developing its groundbreaking Disc Care device, used in the treatment of herniated disc.

PARIS – France’s Comité Economique des Produits de Santé (CEPS), which reports to the Ministry of Health, has released its latest financial figures for medical device reimbursement. Health insurance expenditures amounted to $11.6 billion during the last full financial year reported by CEPS, representing annual growth of 4.66%. Over the last two years, more than half of expenditures have focused on four therapy areas: orthopedics, pulmonology/ENT, cardiac and vascular systems, and diabetes.

PARIS – Solvay SA is partnering with Printerprezz Inc. to develop 3D printing technology using Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) for implants and other medical devices.

PARIS – Tilak Healthcare SAS is signing an ophthalmology partnership agreement with Novartis AG from Basel, Switzerland, to expand international distribution of its vision monitoring technology, Odysight.

PARIS – Braintale SAS has completed a $1.2 million seed round towards its portfolio of digital quantification and prediction medical devices for neurology and intensive care. This funding round, including a loan from Bpifrance, attracted investment from business angels, as well as industry and health care professionals.