PARIS – Orixha SAS is developing new pulmonary ventilation technology for critical care scenarios. “Our total liquid ventilator could be of benefit through its ultra-fast ability to cool the vital organs of patients in cardiac arrest,” Fabrice Paublant, CEO of Orixha, told BioWorld. The aim is to improve survival rates and reduce the neurological complications of postcardiac arrest syndrome.

PARIS – Stilla Technologies SAS, of Villejuif, France, is supplying a new, cost-effective approach for COVID-19 testing by combining its digital polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology with the group testing method. “This approach greatly increases testing capacity and meets the highest quality standards,” Rémi Dangla, co-founder and CEO of Stilla Technologies, told BioWorld.

PARIS – Agfa-Gevaert Group NV, of Mortsel, Belgium, has sold parts of its health care information technology (IT) business to Italy’s Dedalus Holding SpA for $1.1 billion. The divested interests include health care information solutions activities and integrated care activities in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and Brazil, as well as certain IT imaging activities in these territories. It represents about half of Agfa Healthcare’s business.

PARIS – Robocath SAS, of Rouen, France, has secured a new $43 million funding round to boost roll-out of its R-One robotic system for treating vascular disease. This series C funding was led by Hong Kong-based Microport Scientific Corp.

PARIS – Uromems SAS, of Grenoble, France, reported the completion of a series B round of $17.5 million to advance development of its implantable mechatronic device for treating stress urinary incontinence.

PARIS – Carmat SA, which is based in Vélizy Villacoublay, France, reported the first implantation of its bioprosthetic artificial heart at the Heart Center of the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark.

PARIS – Fineheart SA, of Bordeaux, France, reported the success of a seven-day preclinical study to evaluate its Implantable Cardiac Output Management System (ICOMS), the first fully Intra-Ventricular Flow Accelerator synchronized to the native heartbeat to restore natural heart pumping capacity.

PARIS – Intrasense SA, of Montpellier, France, has gained CE marking for its CT scanner reading protocol designed for COVID-19. “This major step forward, coming at the same time as U.S. FDA clearance, will allow a true mass rollout of our Myrian XP-Lung system designed for COVID-19,” Nicolas Reymond, CEO of Intrasense, told BioWorld.

PARIS – In the wake of the news that Swiss group Roche Holding AG received an emergency use authorization from the U.S. FDA as well as a CE-IVD certification for the Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 serology test to detect antibodies in people previously exposed to SARS-CoV-2 that causes the COVID-19 disease, the company unveiled its plans for the launch of the product.

PARIS – April 2020 was a milestone month for the key players in interventional cardiology in France. The reimbursement system in France is finally opening its doors to the drug-eluting balloon (DEB), following years in the wilderness.