Astellas Pharma Inc. has agreed to acquire Iota Biosciences Inc., a company developing ultra-small implantable bioelectronic medical devices, in a deal valued at up to $429 million. According to a merger agreement, Tokyo-based Astellas will make an initial payment of roughly $127.5 million for all outstanding equity not already held by Astellas. Iota shareholders will receive further payments of up to $176.5 million as Iota completes predetermined milestones. In addition, Astellas has agreed to spend a total of $125 million over the next five years to drive Iota’s growth. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of Astellas’ fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2021. Read More
Medtronic plc management put an emphasis on being nimble and commercializing novel technology at its investor day this week, and analysts appeared to approve of the message. As Wells Fargo’s Larry Biegelsen noted, Dublin-based Medtronic is moving away from a centralized company that is focused on economic value and margin expansion to one that is more decentralized, emphasizing innovation and topline growth. Read More
The history of TAVR devices is evolutionary as much as it is revolutionary, or that is at least the take-away from an Oct. 15 virtual session comparing the Acurate Neo device by Boston Scientific Corp., of Marlborough, Mass., with the Corevalve Evolut R by Dublin-based Medtronic plc. Read More
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. launched a new cell therapy processing system that overcomes many of the hurdles that have kept promising cell therapies from reaching commercialization. The modular, closed system increases cell processing efficiency and reduces associated costs. Read More
Although the volume of med-tech deals and mergers and acquisitions in 2020 rival each of the last two years, the level of disclosed values has fallen far short of 2019 in both instances. Read More
PERTH, Australia – During the COVID-19 pandemic, 90% of Australia’s clinical trials were put on hold, and the market cap of biotech and medical device companies on the Australian Securities Exchange dropped 5% to AU$11 billion (US$7.78 billion), according to a recent report by Australia’s Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals Industry Growth Centre. Read More
The latest global regulatory news, changes and updates affecting medical devices and technologies, including: Federal Circuit declines to overturn lower court ruling for Medtronic; FDA stands pat on biotin interference threshold in final guidance; CMS adds to telehealth list. Read More
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Abbott, Abiomed, Dayzz, Infraredx, Philips, Ra Medical Systems. Read More
Med-tech happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Added Value Business and Marketing Solutions, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bioaffinity, Biovo Technologies, Blackstone Medical Services, Cardiac Safety Research Consortium, Fujifilm Medical Systems U.S.A., IDbyDNA , Illumina, IT-IS International, Jaya Unggul Gemilang, Konica Minolta, Mevion, Novacyt, Nupaf, Olim Het, Philips, Precision Pathology Services, Scriptsender, Smiths Medical, Summit, Trekstor, Victory Square, Volpara Solutions. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Livmor, Sanuwave, See-Mode Technologies. Read More
Keeping you up to date on recent developments in diagnostics, including: Remote speech analysis detects early bulbar changes in ALS; Novel NGS approach captures both mtDNA mutation and copy number; Neutrophils are literal obstacle to stroke recovery. Read More
