Stryker (NYSE:SYK) and Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) announced that they are withdrawing some of their financial guidance for the first quarter and full-year 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally, Kalamazoo, Mich.-based Stryker reported an expected organic sales growth for 2020 to be in the range of 6.5% to 7.5% and its full-year earnings per share to range between […]
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.
4 medtech companies ink $84m government ventilator contract
The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) signed an $84.4 million contract over the weekend with four medtech companies to produce 8,000 ventilators to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The contract is with Combat Medical Systems, Hamilton Medical, Vyaire Medical and Zoll Medical, according to the agency. Shipments may begin in a few days with time-phased delivery […]
FDA clears Siemens Healthineers blood analyzer
Siemens Healthineers (ETR: SHL) announced today that it won FDA clearance for its RapidPoint 500e blood gas analyzer for diagnosing and monitoring people in the intensive care unit, operating room or emergency room. RapidPoint 500e is designed to generate blood gas, electrolyte, metabolite, CO-oximetry and neonatal bilirubin results that are then used to diagnose and […]
Bodysphere touts 2-minute COVID-19 test
Update: Bodysphere issued a statement clarifying that, in the rush to get its kits on the front lines, it misinterpreted the test’s listing on the FDA registry website. The test has not yet been cleared by the FDA. Bodysphere announced today that it has begun distributing its 2-minute testing kit for diagnosing COVID-19 after receiving […]
Ford partners with GE Healthcare to make 50k ventilators in 100 days
Ford Motor Company this week said it will start producing 50,000 ventilators in 100 days at its Michigan plant, and 30,000 a month thereafter as needed. GE Healthcare is slated to provide clinical expertise to Ford and will license the ventilator design from Airon. GE Healthcare recommended the Airon design to Ford as the company […]
Branson’s Virgin Orbit to make ventilators
Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit announced that it has developed a mass-producible bridge ventilator to help ease the shortage of machines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Virgin Orbit said in a news release that it is consulting with the Bridge Ventilator Consortium (BVC), a group formed to aid in building ventilators for the needs of healthcare facilities […]
BREAKING: Second Sight Medical laying off most of its workers, winding down
Second Sight Medical (NSDQ:EYES) announced today that it will wind down its operations amid the financial shock of the coronavirus pandemic. The Los Angeles–based company will lay off 84 of its 108 employees and will retain an adviser experienced in winding down operations to guide the board on the next steps. Company officials expect additional layoffs. […]
Tesla to reopen New York facility to manufacture Medtronic ventilators
Tesla announced that it would reopen its New York production facility to manufacture medical devices instead of solar panels to assist Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) in producing ventilators, according to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak said in a CNBC interview that the Fridley, Minn.-based company would ramp up ventilator production and is currently making […]
Smith & Nephew expects Q1 revenue to be down 8% amid coronavirus
Smith & Nephew (NYSE:SNN) announced today that it is withdrawing its 2020 full-year financial guidance and projecting a sizeable decline in first-quarter revenue growth as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The London-based medtech giant’s guidance, issued on Feb. 20, assumed a normalization of the coronavirus outbreak early in the second quarter. However, given the rapid […]
BREAKING: Medtronic shares ventilator IP to combat shortages amid coronavirus
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) is publicly sharing the design specifications of its Puritan Bennett 560 (PB 560) ventilator amid a global shortage of the devices amid the coronavirus pandemic. The shortage is dire enough that doctors are having to make life-or-death decisions about which people with severe cases of COVID-19 get a ventilator. Fridley, Minn.–based Medtronic is running […]
Abbott launches five minute rapid COVID-19 test
Abbott (NYSE:ABT) announced that it received FDA emergency use authorization (EUA) for what it touts as the fastest available molecular point-of-care test for detecting COVID-19. The test, which Abbott says can deliver positive results in as little as five minutes and negative results in 13 minutes, is slated to run on the company’s ID Now platform […]