News • Council of Europe
Covid-19: what measures to combat fake vaccines?
Advice on the application of the Medicrime Convention in the context of counterfeit COVID-19 vaccines.
News • Vigorous ventilation
Covid-19: Why faster air exchange in buildings is not always beneficial
Vigorous and rapid air exchanges might not always be a good thing when it comes to addressing levels of coronavirus particles in a multiroom building, according to a new modeling study. The study suggests that, in a multiroom building, rapid air exchanges can spread the virus rapidly from the source room into other rooms at high concentrations. Particle levels spike in adjacent rooms within 30…
Article • Women & research
Covid-19 and gender parity: a worrisome scenario
The pandemic could challenge what little achievement has been made so far in the field, a prominent Spanish medical oncologist explained during the virtual European Lung Cancer Conference
News • Coronavirus transmission
Experts: Covid-19 prevention efforts should focus on airborne transmission
Any future attempts to reduce the spread of Covid-19 should be focused on tackling close airborne transmission of the virus which is considered to be the primary route for its circulation, according to experts. Respiratory experts argue that it is now clear that SARS-CoV-2 is most likely to transmit between people at close range through inhalation rather than through contact with surfaces or…
News • AI, blockchain, hybrid cloud technology
Cooperation for smarter Covid-19 vaccine management
Moderna and IBM announced their intentions to explore technologies, including artificial intelligence, blockchain and hybrid cloud, that could help support smarter Covid-19 vaccine management. Central to the effort will be a pilot of open, standardized, technology-enabled vaccine distribution approaches aimed to improve supply chain visibility and foster near real-time tracking of vaccine…
News • Digital health company
Brainlab acquires Mint Medical
Brainlab, a digital medical technology company, announced today the acquisition of Mint Medical GmbH, a Heidelberg-based company that develops image reading and reporting software for clinical routine and research. The acquisition underscores the Brainlab commitment to digital health and aims to improve the structured diagnosis, analysis and treatment of cancer and other diseases to address the…
News • Commercial-scale manufacturing
1.4 million grant for resorbable implant development
Medtech company BellaSeno and the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT have received a grant totaling EUR 1.4 million for the development of commercial-scale, fully automated additive manufacturing of resorbable medical implants. The grant was issued by Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the funding program KMU-innovativ. BellaSeno and Fraunhofer IPT…
News • 'Vaccelerate' cooperation
Building a Covid-19 vaccine network across Europe
The European Commission has launched a contingency plan to meet the challenge of the various mutations of the coronavirus. Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital are contributing to a new network for the evaluation and testing of new vaccines. The network is called "Vaccelerate" and it will contribute both to the evaluation of ongoing and future vaccinations, as well…
News • EC proposal
Health industry welcomes European innovation partnership
The European Commission has proposed a European Partnership for Health Innovation under Horizon Europe - an endeavour that is supported by health industry stakeholders representing pharmaceutical and medical technology companies. In a joint statement, COCIR, EFPIA, EuropaBio, MedTech Europe and Vaccines Europe voice their approval: The Covid-19 pandemic has shown the importance of an environment…
News • Legal, ethical, medical challenges
12 things to consider before introducing Covid-19 vaccine passports
Covid-19 vaccine passports could be created, but significant challenges need to be overcome first, according to a report from a panel led by Oxford Professors Melinda Mills and Chris Dye, which outlines a dozen issues which must be addressed before passports can be introduced. The report is published by the SET-C (Science in Emergencies Tasking: Covid-19) group at the Royal Society and it…
Oncology and imaging
EC approval for Siemens Healthineers/Varian merger
The European Commission (EC) has concluded its review of the planned merger between Siemens Healthineers AG and Varian Medical Systems, Inc. and approved the transaction subject to certain conditions. In accordance with its commitments, the company will continue to keep its imaging and oncology software solutions interoperable with third-party offerings in the future. This concerns the connection…
News • Lessons learned from Covid-19
A 'blueprint' for preventing the next pandemic
Scientific and public health experts have been raising the alarm for decades, imploring public officials to prepare for the inevitability of a viral pandemic. Infectious epidemics seemingly as benign as "the flu" and as deadly as the Ebola virus provided ample warning, yet government officials seemed caught off guard and ill prepared for dealing with Covid-19.
News • Health worker shortage
Cooperation to strengthen women physician leaders across Ethiopia
Medics.Academy – a UK company delivering global access to medical education – and the Ethiopian Medical Women’s Association (EMeWA) have signed a partnership agreement to help women physicians in Ethiopia. The project will help EMeWA – an organisation established by female physicians in Ethiopia – to fulfil its vision to establish an excellence center for women physicians through one of…
Article • Covid-19, cybersecurity, AI
Top 10 technology hazards for hospitals (according to experts)
Coronavirus-associated concerns dominate the Top 10 list of important technology hazard risks for hospitals, in an annual report published by ECRI, a nonprofit technology Pennsylvania research firm. The list is derived from ECRI’s team of technology experts who monitor hospital and healthcare organizations, and published to inform healthcare facilities about important safety issues involving…
News • Surgical endoscopy
Olympus to acquire Quest Photonic Devices
Olympus Corporation announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Quest Photonic Devices B.V. for up to EUR50 million including milestone payments to strengthen its surgical endoscopy capabilities. Quest offers advanced fluorescence imaging systems (FIS) for the medical field, enabling more surgical endoscopy capabilities, compared to conventional imaging technologies.
News • Biopsy site markers and localization company
Hologic to acquire Somatex
Hologic, Inc. has completed the acquisition of Somatex Medical Technologies GmbH, a leader in biopsy site markers and localization technologies, for approximately $64 million. The company was previously owned by E-Med Solutions GmbH, Berlin, a group of investors led by German private equity company Westlake Partners.
News • Entering the oncology growth market
Hologic to acquire molecular diagnostics company Biotheranostics
Hologic, Inc. has announced that it will acquire Biotheranostics, Inc., a privately held, commercial-stage company that provides molecular diagnostic tests for breast and metastatic cancers, for approximately $230 million, subject to working capital and other customary closing adjustments.
Article • Lessons learned from the pandemic
Health professionals have to ask: “What’s next?”
The Covid-19 pandemic came as a shock but not a surprise. Bodies around the world have been warning for years of a novel disease that could wipe out millions and crash the global economy. In February 2019, Dr Jonathan Quick, chair of the Global Health Council, told Raconteur: “Our greatest fear is being blindsided by a new virus, most likely due to animal-human spill over, which then readily…
News • Supply and demand
Covid-19 vaccine will probably be unavailable for many until 2022
Nearly a quarter of the world’s population may not have access to a covid-19 vaccine until at least 2022, warns a study published by The BMJ. A second study estimates that 3.7 billion adults worldwide are willing to have a covid-19 vaccine, highlighting the importance of designing fair and equitable strategies to ensure that supply can meet demand, especially in low and middle income countries.
Article • Pandemic management
How the Covid-19 crisis defines good leadership
A senior UK health figure has highlighted how contrasting leadership approaches are impacting the response to the global coronavirus crisis. Dr Clare Gerada also fears that response is affecting health professionals and leaders within the sector, with a significant rise numbers seeking help for mental health issues. Delivering the prestigious Sir Godfrey Hounsfield Lecture to the 2020 British…
News • Interview
Microimplants: electricity instead of pills
At Fraunhofer IZM, research is being conducted on durable microimplants that stimulate nerve cells electrically in a targeted manner and are even to be used to treat multiple sclerosis. Read more in the MEDICA magazine.
News • Re-starting economy
Tackling ‘last mile’ of vaccine journey
Re-starting the global economy for billions of people will depend on successfully overcoming logistical challenges in the ‘last mile’ of a COVID-19 vaccine’s journey to immunisation stations, according to a new report.
News • Success in Düsseldorf
virtual.Medica receives international resonance
For the first time in the history of MEDICA, the world-leading medical trade fair, and the industry’s number one platform for the suppliers of the medical technology industry, COMPAMED, held from 16 to 19 November 2020, took place entirely online due to the pandemic - but still won over their audiences due to their high degree of international resonance in this format too, as virtual.MEDICA and…
News • Experts: The reliance on others must stop
Covid pandemic underlines need for change in EU blood acquisition
The Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association (PPTA) welcomes the European Commission’s publication of the Inception Impact Assessment (IIA) as a necessary step in the ongoing evaluation of the EU legislation on blood, tissues, and cells (BTC). Rightfully, the assessment underlines the need for timely action to decrease Europe’s reliance on third countries for plasma. The PPTA appeals to…
Article • Medical waste management
Time to “Green Up” for EU Ministries of Health
COVID-19 has rocked health care systems, revealing vulnerabilities in our supply chain, piling up unprecedented costs, and creating an alarming amount of medical waste. The health care sector was already a major source of pollution. The World Health Organization points to the burning and incineration of health care waste as a source of dioxins, furans, and particulate matter emissions that…
