Several clinical study results were published this week, while other companies reached distribution deals. Here are some medtech stories we missed this week but were still worth mentioning. 1. Health Canada approves Ventripoint’s complete heart analysis system for 2D ultrasounds Ventripoint Diagnostics received a license from Health Canada for its new VMS-Plus machine and the 4-chamber (4C) heart […]
Research & Development
Study: Growing concern over narcotic painkillers and their addiction risk
More than 50% of Americans have been prescribed narcotic painkillers, according to a Truven Health Analytics-NPR Health poll, and more than one third of respondents were concerned about painkillers’ addiction risk, effectiveness and side effects. The concern towards prescription painkillers differed between those who have been prescribed narcotic pain-relievers and those who have not. Just over […]
Researchers develop micropump for patients with glaucoma
Researchers from the University of Southern California’s Roski Eye Institute developed a micropump that can be implanted directly into the eye and deliver a predetermined dose of the diabetic macular edema drug ranibizumab. Current treatments for glaucoma are traditionally delivered using eye drops. But studies show that some patients stop taking their prescription glaucoma eye […]
Valerion develops antibody delivery method for Pompe disease therapy
Valerion Therapeutics said today that the company developed a fusion protein, VAL-1221, that combines its antibody delivery system with recombinant human acid alpha-glucosidase (rhGAA) to better deliver rhGAA into affected tissues of patients with Pompe disease. Patients who suffer from Pompe disease have a deficient supply of the lysosomal enzyme, GAA, which causes glycogen to […]
Research shows stem cell treatment could improve irregular heartbeat
A study published in Stem Cells Translational Medicine showed that treating heart patients with mesenchymal stem cells does not increase their risk for irregular heart beat and instead improved the patients’ cardiac conditions. Previous studies have shown that stem cells have the potential to repair the damage caused by heart disease, but there was speculation that some […]
Glenmark, Evestra ink deal to develop generic NuvaRing
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and Evestra said today that the companies inked a development, license and commercialization deal for a generic version of Merck’s NuvaRing. Development of the etonogestrel/ethinyl estradiol contraceptive is under way, according to the companies, and they plan to file an Abbreviated New Drug Application in fiscal 2019. “This is an important U.S.-based strategic partnership […]
Study: Patient error cuts dose in half for inhalers
Researchers from Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine have identified patient errors that cause inhaler users to get about half as much medicine as they should from each dose. The team said that clinicians have known for years that patients don’t use their inhalers as prescribed, but inhaler-dosing studies tend to focus on the rare cases […]
This ingestible sensor is powered by stomach acid
MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers have announced an ingestible device innovation: a small voltaic cell that can withstand the acidity of fluids in the stomach and still transmit information to a base station. The small device can stay in the gastrointestinal tract for long periods of time and can produce enough power to […]
Gamida Cell touts first patient treated in Phase III NiCord trial
Gamida Cell said today that the 1st patient has been treated in the Phase III registration trial of its NiCord cell graft for patients with blood cancer. The treatment is a graft derived from umbilical cord blood which has been expanded and enriched with stem and progenitor cells, according to the company. The Jerusalem-based company’s […]
Researchers develop 3D-printed, bioabsorbable scaffold for ACL reconstruction
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic‘s tissue engineering and biomaterials laboratory have developed a 3D-printed, porous scaffold for the delayed delivery of recombinant-human bone morphogenetic protein 2, rhBMP-2, to facilitate bone regeneration in patients undergoing ACL reconstruction. The team’s work developing the scaffold and comparing different delivery methods for rhBMP-2 was published this week in Tissue Engineering. […]
