As governments and health authorities worldwide gear up to deliver potentially billions of COVID-19 vaccine doses, artificial intelligence and data automation techniques could be a powerful tool combating one of the top hindrances to mass vaccination: vaccine hesitancy. In particular, natural language processing (NLP) could help health authorities transform adverse event reports from COVID-19 vaccines […]
coronavirus
Here at MassDevice — medtech's online business journal — we're covering news about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic daily. Here is the latest about coronavirus and the medical device industry, regulatory changes related to the pandemic, new tests for the virus, vaccine development, and much more.
Canada to buy 7.6M BD rapid COVID-19 tests
Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX) announced that Health Canada authorized its rapid COVID-19 tests and will buy 7.6 million of them. Under interim order, Health Canada authorized BD’s rapid, point-of-care SARS-CoV-2 antigen test for use with the BD Veritor Plus system. The order for 7.6 million tests runs through March 2021 in an effort to support Canada’s planning […]
3M lands $37.5M federal mask contract
The U.S. Department of Defense announced that it issued nearly $37.5 million to 3M (NYSE:MMM) for expanded production of N95 respirators. St. Paul, Minn.-based 3M will receive approximately $37.46 million in a firm-fixed-price modification to expand the production capacity for its N95 respirators, which have been in high demand since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. […]
Report: Fauci expects Moderna COVID-19 vaccine data within a week
Dr. Anthony Fauci is reportedly expecting that early data from Moderna’s (NSDQ:MRNA) COVID-19 vaccine candidate is not far away. Following Monday’s news that the candidate being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech has proven to be 90% effective at preventing infection, the nation’s top infectious disease official expressed optimism over Moderna’s potential, according to a Forbes report. […]
COVID-19 vaccine rally sees testing companies’ stocks dip
News of Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate performing well has caused markets to rally this week. The two companies are collaborating on a vaccine candidate that has proven in early clinical data to be approximately 90% effective, and the news helped to propel MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index to a new record high yesterday. However, […]
7 things to know about COVID-19 vaccines
Enthusiasm surrounding COVID-19 vaccines is on the upswing after Pfizer announced preliminary data suggesting its vaccine could be 90% effective at preventing COVID-19 infections. The Bay Area Council hosted a webinar yesterday to provide more information about coronavirus vaccines. Here are seven considerations to keep in mind now that the prospect of a widely deployed COVID-19 […]
Joe Biden’s plan for COVID-19 and how the industry is reacting
Following the weekend’s news that Joe Biden is now president-elect of the U.S., plenty of focus is shifting to his plan for COVID-19. While positive news regarding Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine candidate came through this morning, the pandemic is still roaring on, with the U.S. hitting a record 128,000 new cases on Saturday as the […]
Report: Some nursing homes refuse to use COVID-19 rapid antigen tests
Many rapid COVID-19 tests are going unused in nursing homes as there reportedly remain concerns over accuracy in detecting the virus. The Wall Street Journal reports that a federal survey of nursing homes found that 30% of 13,150 facilities that had rapid testing equipment for at least two weeks did not use it to test […]
Pfizer claims its COVID-19 vaccine could be 90% effective
Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) has announced its vaccine candidate promises to be 90% effective in protecting against COVID-19 infections. The announcement included the interim analysis results of its Phase 3 trial. Pfizer had earlier suggested that it would announce those results in late October. The promising data clears the way for Pfizer to apply for emergency-use authorization from FDA […]
MedTech 100 roundup: Stocks show no signs of slowing down
The medtech industry hit further highs in the market last week and the stocks show no sign of stopping their ascent now. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — finished last week at 97.62 (Nov. 6), marking a 7.3% leap from the 91.01 points registered at the […]
FDA issues EUA for GenScript’s COVID-19 neutralizing antibody detection kit
GenScript announced today that it received FDA emergency use authorization (EUA) for its cPass SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody detection kit. Piscataway, N.J.-based GenScript touts its test as the first commercially available diagnostic for specifically detecting neutralizing antibodies without the use of live virus. It measures the presence of neutralizing antibodies in any sample, both in patients […]
