Nearly half of medtech executives polled in a recent survey said their companies are prepared for the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that is sweeping the globe. Forty-eight percent of the 71 MedExecWomen Fall Forum attendees who responded to the question reported their companies’ readiness hinged on scalable remote commercial capabilities, a bolstered supply chain […]
COVID-19
Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines set a high bar for competitors
Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) is now the second company to release positive preliminary results from a Phase 3 trial of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate — and it appears to be more good news. Last week, Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) announced that early data suggested its BNT162 mRNA-based vaccine was more than 90% effective at reducing symptomatic COVID-19 infections. Today, […]
MedTech 100 roundup: Stocks remain high after record-setting week
Medtech stocks have been on the rise since positive news regarding COVID-19 vaccines broke last week, breaking a record in the process. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — finished last week at 98.99 (Nov. 13), marking a 1.4% uptick from the 97.62 points registered at the […]
Study: ECMO ‘significantly’ improves heart attack patients’ survival
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is touting a study that found the use of life support improved survival in certain cardiac arrest patients. Published in The Lancet, the study, known as the Advanced Reperfusion Strategies for Refractory Cardiac Arrest (ARREST) trial, used the life support machine called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation ECMO to replicate the […]
What a Biden administration could mean for the pharma industry
While President Trump continues to refuse to concede the election, a growing number of business associations and politicians have acknowledged Biden as the president-elect. What a Biden presidency would mean for the pharmaceutical industry continues to be an open question as the Senate outcome remains undecided, but two broadly similar outcomes are likely. Get the […]
Qiagen readies portable digital COVID-19 antigen test
Qiagen (NYSE: QGEN) and its partner Ellume are gearing up for the launch of the QIAreach SARS-CoV-2 antigen test, which can reportedly process samples in 2–15 minutes. Qiagen notes that the test can process up to 30 swab samples per hour while supporting parallel processing of antibody tests. The companies have submitted the test for […]
How AI could reassure you that COVID-19 vaccines are safe
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 […]
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, […]