As the numbers of positive COVID-19 cases soars across the South, federal officials today implored young people to be more careful about spreading the disease. Members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, holding their first public briefing in two months, spoke of the risks of continuing to spread the virus by people who are […]
$4.2m project with GE would develop air transport vital-signs patch
The Nano-Bio Materials Consortium (NBMC) announced this week that it has launched a project with GE Research to develop a medical-grade wireless patch that monitors the vital signs of medical patients during emergency air transport. The device would advance medical care coordination, records management and patient outcomes in aeromedical evacuation and help drive advances in consumer-based telehealth, according to […]
Partnership will study use of existing drugs for COVID-19 and and more
A new collaboration funded by in part by $1.1 million from the FDA is working on finding new uses for existing drugs for areas of high unmet medical need — with a pilot project focused on treatments for COVID-19. The Critical Path Institute (C-Path) this week announced the launch of the CURE Drug Repurposing Collaboratory […]
Texas governor halts elective procedures in populous counties
Citing the need to preserve hospital beds for COVID-19 patients, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott today issued an executive order halting elective medical procedures in the state’s four most heavily populated counties . The order, issued this morning, covers the counties of Bexar, Dallas, Harris and Travis counties. Bexar County includes the city of San Antonio. […]
Moderna, Catalent partner on COVID-19 vaccine candidate manufacturing
Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) and Catalent (NYSE:CTLT) today announced a collaboration for large-scale, commercial fill-finish manufacturing of Moderna’s mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate (mRNA-1273) at Catalent’s biologics facility in Bloomington, Ind. Catalent will provide vial filling and packaging capacity, as well as additional staffing required for 24×7 manufacturing operations at the site to support production of an initial 100 million doses […]
Report: New U.S. reshoring agency may loan billions for manufacturing
The head of the newly formed U.S. International Development Finance Corp. (DFC) said this week that the agency could provide tens of billions of dollars in financing to return manufacturing to the United States, according to a report by Reuters. One of the projects it may finance is a $12 billion semiconductor plant from Taiwan, […]
FDA approves Medtronic’s latest DBS
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) said today that it has received FDA approval for the Percept PC deep brain stimulation (DBS) system. The medical device giant is touting Percept PC’s BrainSense technology, which is designed to sense and record brain signals while delivering DBS therapy to people with neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. BrainSense enables more personalized, […]
Manufacturing group funds $6m in projects to fight COVID-19 in Canada
Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen), the industry-led organization behind Canada’s advanced manufacturing supercluster, has announced an additional $6 million in funding for projects dedicated to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. To date, NGen has supported a total of 19 such projects amounting to $27 million. Three companies are the latest recipients of cash from […]
Hahn says FDA will keep some COVID-19-era changes in place
The head of the FDA says some changes the agency made during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic will become permanent. Dr. Stephen Hahn told members of the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC) on June 19 that the agency will rely even more on real-world evidence regarding the performance of approved or cleared devices and […]
DOD launches $100m initiative to return COVID-19-related medtech, pharma manufacturing to the U.S.
The U.S. Department of Defense announced today that it will dedicate $100 million authorized by the CARES Act to boost medtech and pharmaceutical manufacturing in the U.S. Working with DOD, the newly formed U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) launched a request for proposals from companies seeking financing under the Defense Production Act, which prioritizes […]
Report: FDA lists 106 adverse events for Abbott’s rapid COVID-19 test; none for other rapid tests
Users of the Abbott (NYSE:ABT) ID Now point-of-care diagnostic test for COVID-19 have reported 106 false-negative or otherwise incorrect or inadequate results to the FDA since April — and none for other companies’ rapid diagnostics for the novel coronavirus, according to a report by Kaiser Health News. That’s up from the 15 adverse event reports the […]