The medtech industry’s stocks rose higher than they ever had to begin last week before eventually dropping to a slightly more normal level. MassDevice‘s MedTech 100 index ended the week (Feb. 19) at 108.72 points, marking a -1.7% dip from the 110.63-point mark set at the end of the previous week (Feb. 12). On Monday (Feb. […]
Joe Biden
Feds to order 61M more at-home coronavirus tests, build surgical glove factories
Just days after ordering 8.5 million at-home tests from Ellume, the Biden administration announced today that it’s in talks with six other at-home coronavirus test manufacturers. In an online briefing, Tim Manning, the national supply chain coordinator for COVID response, told reporters that these companies could produce another 61 million at-home tests by the end of […]
Pandemic Emergency Manufacturing Act would supplement DPA
A rewritten pandemic manufacturing bill was introduced to both houses of Congress yesterday to enable the federal government to manufacture or contract with existing manufacturers to make products to fight COVID-19. The bill, introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), builds off the COVID-19 Emergency Manufacturing Act, introduced in 2020 to […]
MedTech 100 roundup: Another peak for the industry
Medtech stocks have been on the rise in 2021, and the past week saw the trend continue with yet another all-time best mark. MassDevice‘s MedTech 100 index reached 107.4 points on Jan. 20, topping the all-time best of 106.81 points set on Jan. 8. That mark represents a 16% jump from the pre-pandemic high of 92.32 […]
The top 5 MassDevice stories of the week — January 22, 2021
It’s a new year with a new president who has new plans to fight the COVID-19 pandemic — a strategy that should be a big story for medtech in coming weeks. Even as President Biden and COVID-19 dominated the news, the medical device industry saw some important news in the hot robotic surgery space and […]
7 takeaways from Biden’s ‘full-scale, wartime’ plan to combat the COVID-19 pandemic
President Joe Biden kept to his word to announce plans to “establish clear federal leadership” to tackle the coronavirus pandemic on his first full day in office. The White House issued a 200-page document on Wednesday, detailing “full-scale, wartime” plans to harness the nation’s manufacturing and distribution capabilities to boost vaccine production, end shortages of […]
Amazon offers to help Biden administration with vaccine distribution
Amazon (NSDQ:AMZN) issued a letter to recently inaugurated President Joe Biden offering assistance with COVID-19 vaccine distribution. President Biden, who was sworn into office yesterday, was addressed in the letter from Amazon announcing its availability to help with his intent to distribute 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in his first 100 days in office. Get the full story […]
Former FDA commissioner Kessler to help lead Biden’s COVID-19 response
President-elect Joe Biden today announced that Dr. David Kessler, who led FDA through much of the 1990s, will serve as chief science officer of his administration’s COVID-19 response. Kessler’s achievements at FDA included speeding the approval of drugs to reduce the AIDS death toll. He’ll now be helping to lead efforts to speed authorization and […]
Former CDER head Woodcock to lead FDA for now
FDA veteran Dr. Janet Woodcock has been tapped as interim FDA commissioner by the Biden administration, according to published reports. An article by BioCentury also said that former FDA commissioner David Kessler, who had been mentioned as a possible replacement for current commissioner Stephen Hahn, will be a consultant to the agency but will not serve as its […]
Biden to bolster COVID-19 vaccine production with Defense Production Act
Joe Biden is reportedly planning on invoking the Defense Production Act to shore up the production of COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. While FDA has authorized the distribution of vaccines from Moderna Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and its partner BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX), distribution has been patchy thus far. Get the full story at our sister site, Pharmaceutical […]
The top 5 MassDevice stories of the week — December 11, 2020
The medtech industry continues to plug along as major news comes in about vaccines, the incoming presidential administration and more. This week’s top stories include the latest on COVID-19, Joe Biden and some additional FDA clearances, plus a major royalties spat. Want to hear more about the week’s top medtech news on MassDevice? Tom Salemi will […]