Alcon (NYSE:ALC) shares boomed today on first-quarter financial results that came in well above the consensus forecast. Shares of ALC shot up 7.6% at $57.22 per share in early-morning trading today, following yesterday’s release of the company’s earnings report. The Geneva, Switzerland-based vision care company posted losses of -$57 million, or -12¢ per share, on sales […]
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.
FDA grants Abbott EUAs for diagnostic, antibody testing platforms
The FDA so far this week has granted Abbott (NYSE:ABT) two emergency use authorizations (EUAs) allowing diagnostic and antibody tests to run on the company’s Alinity systems. The agency today authorized Abbott’s COVID-19 molecular diagnostic test for use on its new Alinity m molecular laboratory instrument. Abbott said it has begun launching the Alinity m system […]
Conformis slides on missed Q1 projections
Conformis (NSDQ:CFMS) shares plummeted today on first-quarter results that came up considerably short of the consensus forecast. The Billerica, Mass.-based joint replacement implants company posted losses of -$9.4 million, or -14¢ per share, on sales of $16.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020, for a 23.3% bottom-line slide on a sales decline of […]
BREAKING: BD stops selling COVID-19 antibody test it touted in March
Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX) said today that it has stopped selling a point-of-care test touted as being able to detect antibodies to COVID-19 in as little as 15 minutes. The test, by BioMedomics, was one of about 100 serological tests that the FDA allowed manufacturers to sell beginning March 26, 2020, if the companies self-validated their accuracy. […]
Zoll Medical returns HHS funds meant to support health providers
Zoll Medical said today that it’s returning money that it automatically received from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ $50 billion Cares Act Provider Relief Fund. “Although we meet all of the qualifications for the funds we received and could fully comply with the terms and conditions required to keep the funds, we […]
FDA OKs Aspenstate’s portable X-ray for COVID-19 fight
Aspenstate announced today that FDA has cleared its Airtouch portable X-ray, which the Plano, Texas–based company is touting as a simple frontline chest X-ray tool to help diagnose COVID-19. Airtouch boasts a number of potentially useful features that could enable high-volume screening: It’s lightweight at 5.5 lb and handheld. The high-performance battery charges within two […]
Zimmer Biomet loses $509m in Q1, expects significant negative impact in Q2
Zimmer Biomet (NYSE:ZBH) today reported first-quarter results that failed to meet the consensus forecast on Wall Street, with the company warning that the COVID-19 pandemic will have a “significant negative impact” in Q2. The Warsaw, Ind.–based orthopedic device giant lost $509 million, or –$2.46 per share, on sales of $1.78 billion for the three months ended […]
FDA authorizes Quidel antigen test for rapid COVID-19 detection
FDA has issued a first-of-its-kind emergency use authorization for Quidel‘s COVID-19 antigen test, which enables rapid diagnosis of virus infection. San Diego–based Quidel describes the Sofia 2 SARS Antigen FIA as a rapid point-of-care test to be used with the Sofia 2 fluorescent immunoassay analyzer. It can produce results in 15 minutes. Cardinal Health, Fisher […]
MedTech 100 roundup: Stocks open strong in May
Medtech stocks took a dip as April came to a close, but opened May with a strong week as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the economy. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — sat at 83.98 points at the end of last week (May 8). That […]
NN’s Paragon Medical launches intubation shield
NN Inc. (NSDQ:NNBR) announced that its Paragon Medical division launched an intubation shield for healthcare workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The intubation shield provides a barrier between the healthcare professional and the patient during the intubation and extubation processes, reducing exposure to aerosolized airborne contaminants. Paragon collaborated with Solvay Specialty Polymers in Alpharetta, Ga., to produce […]
DeviceTalks Weekly: Ep. 9 – What’s the state of the medtech job market?
In this week’s episode of DeviceTalks Weekly, Tom Salemi speaks with two executive recruiters about what they see in the medtech market. Over the past month, we’ve seen several medtech companies – big and small – cutting jobs and reducing hours but what does this mean long-term. In this podcast we’ll identify a few companies […]