Say hello to MassDevice +5, a bite-sized view of the top five medtech stories of the day. This feature of MassDevice.com’s coverage highlights our 5 biggest and most influential stories from the day’s news to make sure you’re up to date on the headlines that continue to shape the medical device industry.
Get this in your inbox everyday by subscribing to our newsletters.
5. University of Virginia has a smartphone-controlled artificial pancreas
University of Virginia researchers are making strides when it comes to developing an artificial pancreas that can be controlled using a smartphone.
The FDA approved the UVA-developed artificial pancreas for testing in 2012, and UVA received a $3.4M grant from the National Institutes of Health in 2013. The device is currently in the testing phase and will be sent to the FDA for approval upon completion in 2018, according to the university. Read more
4. PixarBio CEO Reynolds ups the ante to $100m in pursuit of InVivo Therapeutics
PixarBio and CEO Frank Reynolds today upped the ante in their pursuit of InVivo Therapeutics, the regenerative medicine company Reynolds co-founded and led until his 2013 ouster.
In a lengthy, nearly 2,700-word press release yesterday, PixarBio and Reynolds cited a -41.7% slide in the price of NVIV shares since January 2016 in making their case for the merger with PixarBio. Their proposal would create a new entity called Reynolds Therapeutic Corp. to pursue PixarBio’s NeuroRelease non-opioid pain treatment and InVivo’s scaffold technology for spinal cord injury repair. The deal is expected to close during the 1st quarter, they said. Read more
3. Judge cuts $1B verdict against J&J in DePuy Pinnacle hip implant suit
A federal judge in Texas again slashed a large jury verdict against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics over its metal-on-metal Pinnacle hip implant, nearly halving the $1 billion awarded to 6 plaintiffs last month.
A Dallas jury in December found that the metal-on-metal pinnacle hip implants were designed defectively and that the companies failed to appropriately warn patients of the risks associated with the devices, awarding $32 million in compensatory damages and more than $1 billion in punitive damages. Read more
2. J&J’s DePuy Synthes picks up Interventional Spine assets
Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy Synthes said today it inked a purchase and development deal with Interventional Spine to pick up its expandable cages designed for minimally invasive spinal fusion surgeries.
The newly acquired implants are designed for optimal tactile feedback and feature a continuously adjustable design to allow for height to be customized to the patient’s anatomy, the company said. Read more
1. US House Reps introduce bill to permanently repeal medical device tax
Congressional legislation was introduced today looking to permanently repeal the medical device tax.
The Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2017, sponsored by Rep. Erik Paulsen (R.-Minn.) and Ron Kind (D-Wis.), seeks to repeal the 2.3% medical device excise tax that was enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act. Read more
