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3M beats The Street in Q4 with slight growth in health care revenues

3M (NYSE:MMM) shares ticked up before hours today on fourth-quarter results that topped the consensus forecast.

The St. Paul, Minnesota-based company posted profits of $1.1 billion, or $2.31 per share, on sales of $8.61 billion for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2021, for an 18.9% bottom-line slide on sales growth of 0.3%.

3M’s EPS of $2.31 came in 30¢ ahead of projections on Wall Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $8.59 billion.

The company’s health care segment experienced a 0.7% revenue growth year-over-year, with a major increase (4.1%) in its consumer business. 3M’s safety and industrial arm dipped 2.2% and its transportation and electronics segment dropped 1.5%.

“3M delivered a solid fourth-quarter performance – with notable strength in December – as we maintained our relentless focus on serving customers in a challenging external environment,” 3M Chairman & CEO Mike Roman said in a news release. “Our tea…

Verana Health aims to go deep with its real-world data network

The task of extracting health insights from electronic health records (EHRs) has taken longer to materialize than some pundits projected a decade or so ago. But the situation is quickly changing with continued advances in data science, said Sujay Jadhav, CEO of Verana Health (San Francisco), which has created a real-world data network in partnership with 20,000 healthcare providers.

Pharma and biotech companies have used the company’s data to inform study design and site selection and to finesse clinical trial execution.

The company recently attracted $150 million in Series E funding round led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation (JJDC) and Novo Growth.

“To a certain extent, the technologies we are leveraging to extract, normalize and curate data to provide insights have been around for more than a decade,” Jadhav said.

Progress has ramped up as security technologies have evolved to offer more robust protection and deidentification of patient…

iRhythm plans silent AFib screening pilots, high-level hires and Zio Watch evaluations

Verily’s Study Watch will serve as iRhythm’s Zio Watch. [Photo courtesy of Verily]iRhythm Technologies (NSDQ:IRTC) has big plans for 2022 and its remote external electrocardiogram monitors as the medical device developer gears up for growth.

President and CEO Quentin Blackford is looking to hire an international general manager among other roles in the coming months, he told Medical Design & Outsourcing after presenting at this month’s 2022 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, where he laid out his vision for profitably scaling the company.

Blackford also previewed plans to roll out asymptomatic atrial fibrillation (AFib) screening pilots with payors in 2022. Screening for “silent” AFib can detect problems before an event like a stroke or heart failure, giving doctors more time for treatment at a lower cost.

Get the full story at our sister site, Medical Design & Outsourcing.

iRhythm plans silent AFib screening pilots, high-level hires and Zio Watch evaluations

iRhythm’s Zio XT cardiac monitor [Image from iRhythm]

iRhythm Technologies (NSDQ:IRTC) has big plans for 2022 and its remote external electrocardiogram monitors as the medical device developer gears up for growth.

President and CEO Quentin Blackford is looking to hire an international general manager among other roles in the coming months, he told Medical Design & Outsourcing after presenting at this month’s 2022 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, where he laid out his vision for profitably scaling the company.

Asked by MDO whether Blackford is planning a reorganization or restructuring after he discussed the cost-consciousness side of his growth plans, an external spokesperson offered more details from the CEO.

“At a leadership level, we are actively structuring our C-suite in order to create long-term sustainable growth,” Blackford said. “The goal is to enable iRhythm to be a glo…

Innophase announces next-gen low-power WiFi modules

The Talaria Two INP1014 and INP1015 WiFi plus BLE5 modules [Image courtesy of Innophase]

Innophase (San Diego) recently announced its next-generation Talaria Two INP1014 and INP1015 WiFi plus BLE5 modules.

The new modules are 40% smaller than the previous INP1010 and INP1011 platforms. INP1014 and INP1015 can enable edge-of-network IoT devices, including medical wearables, that require low power consumption and a direct-to-cloud connection, according to the company.

The platforms include multi-protocol WiFi and BLE5-Long Range for wireless data transfer and an embedded Arm Cortex-M3 for system control and user applications. They can operate in stand-alone mode, with an external MCU, or hybrid mode.

Other features include:

The ability to integrate sensors, plus flexibility to connect to a wide variety of external sensors; Direct connection to cloud services (Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, etc.);…

Plastics and medical devices: Changes for safety and cost

The move toward polypropylene and polyethylene in medical devices requires new manufacturing and assembly solutions such as ultrasonic and laser welding.

Didier Perret, Emerson

Emerson’s Branson GSX Ultrasonic Welding Platform [Photo courtesy of Emerson]

Plastics are ubiquitous in medical applications thanks to their light weight, durability and flexibility, among other attributes. However, concern has been increasing in recent years about the possible negative effects of some ingredients and components in certain plastics. This is leading medical-device companies to research and use other resins or combinations of plastics without the same risks. However, they do not have the same processing characteristic, and the changes often require companies to implement new production processes, especially around assembly and joining technologies.

For instance, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is used in 40% of all …

Integrated PAT is redefining closed-loop process control

The quality analysis tools driving speed to market are now built right into the control system.

It is more important than ever for pharmaceutical manufacturers to deliver treatments quickly and cost-effectively around the globe. With the world’s new focus on rapid results, gone are the days when product could sit in work-in-progress (WIP) for days, weeks, or even months, waiting on lab testing for quality validation.

Plants are putting massive effort into digitally transforming operations to move toward level five of BioPhorum’s digital plant maturity model. As they move up the model, organizations realize lean manufacturing benefits while more quickly and safely putting critical treatments in the hands of patients in need (Figure 1).

Figure 1. BioPhorum’s digital plant maturity model helps IT and OT digitally transform life sciences manufacturing. Image courtesy of Emerson.

Implementing in-li…

Integrated PAT is redefining closed-loop process control

The quality analysis tools driving speed to market are now built right into the control system.

It is more important than ever for pharmaceutical manufacturers to deliver treatments quickly and cost-effectively around the globe. With the world’s new focus on rapid results, gone are the days when product could sit in work-in-progress (WIP) for days, weeks, or even months, waiting on lab testing for quality validation.

Plants are putting massive effort into digitally transforming operations to move toward level five of BioPhorum’s digital plant maturity model. As they move up the model, organizations realize lean manufacturing benefits while more quickly and safely putting critical treatments in the hands of patients in need (Figure 1).

Figure 1. BioPhorum’s digital plant maturity model helps IT and OT digitally transform life sciences manufacturing. Image courtesy of Emerson.

Implementing in-li…

FDA approves Medtronic’s spinal cord stimulation for chronic pain from diabetic neuropathy

Medtronic’s Vanta recharge-free neurostimulator. [Image from Medtronic]Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) announced today the FDA approved its Intellis and Vanta neurostimulator for treating chronic pain.

Approval covers the Intellis rechargeable neurostimulator and the Vanta recharge-free neurostimulator for the treatment of chronic pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

The new indication offers DPN patients access to Medtronic’s spinal cord stimulation (SCS) portfolio of both rechargeable and recharge-free platforms that include multiple programming options for personalized patient therapy, unrestricted MRI access, strong battery chemistry and performance and the Medtronic TYRX neuro absorbable antibacterial envelope, according to a news release.

Medtronic said the TYRX antibacterial surgical mesh envelope has been shown to stabilize device placement and help reduce infection by over 60%. Patients using Medtronic’s SCS offerings can als…

Cook Medical wins FDA breakthrough designation for new drug-eluting stent

Cook Medical recently announced that it received FDA breakthrough designation for its drug-eluting stent for below the knee.

Bloomington, Indiana-based Cook Medical designed the stent to treat patients who have chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI).

Get the full story on our sister site, Medical Tubing + Extrusion.

Activ Surgical appoints former Olympus VP as its COO

Activ Surgical announced today that it appointed Manisha Shah-Bugaj as its new chief operating officer (COO).

Shah-Bugaj will hold responsibility for overseeing all business operations for the company, including oversight of the impending commercialization of its ActivSight enhanced visualization imaging model and the implementation of its surgical visualization technology at established pilot hospital sites in 2022.

“I am thrilled to join the Activ Surgical team and to have the opportunity to play a critical role in ushering in a new paradigm of surgical care with advanced surgical visualization technology,” Shah-Bugaj said in a news release. “My personal and professional values are very much aligned with the company’s mission to democratize world-class surgical care, and, ultimately, to save lives by eliminating complications in the operating room. I have been nothing but impressed with [CEO Todd Usen] and the leadership team at Activ Surgical and look forwar…

NextKidney buys Dialyss to support its home hemodialysis system

NextKidney recently announced that it has acquired Dialyss to boost the development of its portable Neokidney hemodialysis device.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Singapore-based Dialyss specializes in technologies for the sorbent-based regeneration of dialysate during home dialysis.

“Joining forces with Dialyss Pte Ltd will bring Neokidney BV in the best position to ensure the success of the Neokidney and bring a real change to patients’ quality of life,” Jérôme Augustin, CEO of Lausanne, Switzerland–based NextKidney, said in a January 21 news release.

NextKidney officials boast that the Neokidney will be a small, user-friendly, home hemodialysis device, using only 4 liters of fluid per session. In addition, they say that it can run entirely independent of water supply and drain, enabling people to use it any time and anywhere.

The plan is to hold a first-in-human trial in Singapore, followed by a Eu…