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Why COVID-19 could drive a surge in diabetes

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Diabetes was already an epidemic before the novel coronavirus struck. But some researchers now suspect that COVID-19 can trigger the condition. Approximately 14% of patients with severe COVID-19 develop the disease, according to a meta-analysis recently published in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.

To arrive at that thesis, the researchers analyzed eight studies. Half of those came from China, while two came from Italy and two from the U.S. The diabetes rate (13.4%) was lower in the China group than the rate in the combined U.S.–Italy group (15.4%).

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FDA clears lightweight Inovytec ventilators

(Image from Inovytec)

Inovytec has announced that the FDA has granted FDA 510(k) clearance for its Ventway Sparrow ventilators.

The 2.2 lb. transport and emergency ventilators had previously won FDA emergency authorization for use during the COVID-19 public health emergency. They are already commercialized in Europe, Canada and Australia and are undergoing registration procedures in other countries, according to Ra’anana, Israel-based Inovytec.

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Why COVID-19 could drive a surge in diabetes

Diabetes was already an epidemic before the novel coronavirus struck. But some researchers now suspect that COVID-19 can trigger the condition. Approximately 14% of patients with severe COVID-19 develop the disease, according to a meta-analysis recently published in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.

To arrive at that thesis, the researchers analyzed eight studies. Half of those came from China, while two came from Italy and two from the U.S.

Researchers are uncertain why COVID-19 could cause diabetes, but they have linked infections to damage to several organs, including the lungs, heart, kidneys and brain. Some scientists are now investigating whether the disease can damage the pancreas.

The study is not the first to stipulate a link between COVID-19 and diabetes. Indeed, researchers have suspected a range of viruses can trigger type 1 diabetes. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice and the N…

Biden administration orders home COVID-19 tests

The U.S. Defense Dept. announced today that it awarded Ellume $231.8 to onshore production capacity of its Ellume COVID-19 home test.

In coordination with the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS), the DoD contract is an industrial base expansion to allow Ellume to increase the production capacity of its home test by 640,000 tests per day by December 2021.

The expansion includes the procurement of 8.5 million tests to be distributed across the U.S. in accordance with the National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness policy established January 21, 2021, according to a news release.

Valencia, Calif.-based Ellume’s COVID-19 home test is the first FDA-authorized fully at-home diagnostic for detecting symptomatic or asymptomatic COVID-19, having received emergency use authorization (EUA) in December. The test’s development was supported by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Rapid Acceleration of Diagnos…

Roche obtains CE Mark for rapid COVID-19 test with easier nose collection

Roche (SWX: RO, ROG) announced today that it received CE Mark approval for its new SARS-CoV-2 nasal rapid antigen test.

Basel, Switzerland-based Roche’s nasal test collects the sample from the front area of the nose instead of the nasopharynx, which is the method used with its existing SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen test. The new method results in a simplified and faster testing procedure, according to a news release.

The new method can help reduce overall patient discomfort, particularly in sensitive individuals such as children, elderly people and those with disabilities, Roche added.

Additionally, the test offers patients the option to self-collect under the supervision of a healthcare professional, decreasing the risk of exposure to the virus for those administering the tests. Using the tests without the supervision of a healthcare professional depends on local regulatory requirements.

Roche is launching the test in partnership with SD Biosens…

EU chief reports ‘step forward’ in AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine supply dispute

AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) will provide the EU an extra 9 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to help resolve a supply dispute that also involves the U.K., according to media reports.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen yesterday described the agreement as a “step forward,” according to NPR. The extra doses bring the total amount of AstraZeneca vaccine slated for the EU in Q1 to 40 million — an improvement but still only half the original 80 million promised.

AstraZeneca found itself cutting coronavirus vaccine supplies for the EU after experiencing production problems at plans in Belgium and the Netherlands. The EU had demanded that AstraZeneca meet its obligations by shipping U.K.-made vaccine, but the British company had already promised the doses to its home country.

The BBC reports the dispute was heated enough that the European Commission even suggested setting up checks on the border between the Irish Republic and Northern …

MedTech 100 roundup: January ends with a dip

After spending several weeks on the ascent, medtech stocks leveled out a bit to end January, ending a run of several new highs in 2021.

MassDevice‘s MedTech 100 index ended the week (Jan. 29) at 104.05 points, marking a -2.2% drop from the 106.4-point mark set at the end of the previous week (Jan. 22).

The index had previously 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 set on Feb. 19, 2020, and a 72.9% overall leap from the lowest point of 62.13 set on March 23, 2020.

However, the drop from that high point to medtech’s current position is approximately -3.1%, although the industry still remains well above its pre-pandemic high (12.7%) and its mid-pandemic low point (67.5%).

Here are some of the best-performing medtech stocks from 2020.

While medtech saw a slight decline from the previous week, both of the overall markets fared …

COVID-19-free Palau could be among the first to reach herd immunity

[Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash]

To date, in the U.S., some 6.5% of the population has received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. Alaska is currently the frontrunner in vaccinating its population. Almost 12% of Alaskans have received at least one dose.

But two U.S.-linked countries — Palau and American Samoa — have vaccinated more people per capita than any U.S. state. More than 17% of the inhabitants of Palau, a cluster of more than 500 islands east of the Philippines, have received at least one dose. For American Samoa, the same figure is 14.6%.

The U.S. territories, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands have also administered more COVID-19 vaccine doses per capita than any U.S. state other than Alaska and West Virginia.

Palau (population 18,000) is noteworthy in that it has reported no COVID-19 cases to the World Health Organization. Neither had American Samoa.

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4 ways COVID-19 variants could change the battle against the pandemic

SARS-CoV-2 image from Wikipedia

Highly-transmissible COVID-19 variants have likely been circulating undetected for months in places like the U.K., South Africa and Brazil. They then seemed to burst onto the scene, fueling large outbreaks that dwarfed preceding ones.

While the variants aren’t well understood, they suggest that SARS-CoV-2 is mutating in ways that confer an evolutionary advantage. They thus threaten to become dominant throughout much of the world in coming months unless protocols such as growing vaccination, mask-wearing and social distancing can slow their spread.

Get the full story from our sister publication, Drug Discovery & Development.

4 ways COVID-19 variants could impact the battle against the pandemic

SARS-CoV-2 electron microscope image from Wikipedia

Highly-transmissible COVID-19 variants have likely been circulating undetected for months in places like the U.K., South Africa and Brazil. They then seemed to burst onto the scene, fueling large outbreaks that dwarfed preceding ones.

While the variants aren’t well understood, they suggest that SARS-CoV-2 is mutating in ways that confer an evolutionary advantage. They thus threaten to become dominant throughout much of the world in coming months unless protocols such as growing vaccination, mask-wearing and social distancing can slow their spread.

The new variants are also likely to change the fight against COVID-19 in crucial ways. Here are four facts to consider:

1. New variants could delay herd immunity and make vaccinating children more important

After FDA authorized mRNA vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna in late 2020, it seemed t…

10 medtech hazards you need to watch out for in 2021

(Image by Антон Дмитриев on Unsplash)

Patient safety organization ECRI comes out with its list of health technology hazards every year, and it often contains the same issues. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed much of that.

The nonprofit organization is focusing this year on the need to move from trying to cope during an emergency to building stronger and more resilient processes, using the innovations developed during the pandemic and the lessons learned along the way.

ECRI engineers, scientists, clinicians and other patient safety analysts nominate topics for the list based on their own expertise and insight gained through:

Investigating incidents. Testing medical devices in the ECRI lab. Observing operations and assessing hospital practices. Reviewing the literature. Speaking with clinicians, clinical engineers, technology managers, purchasing staff, health systems administrators, and device suppliers.

The ECRI staff also considers the thousands of h…

BREAKING: J&J’s Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine study results raise more alarms about new variants

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) announced results from its COVID-19 vaccine trial that show decreased effectiveness against new virus variants.

The vaccine candidate from Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, which was 66% effective overall in preventing moderate to severe COVID-19 28 days after vaccination, proved less effective in South Africa, where a new variant of the virus has appeared, offering just 57% protection from moderate-to-severe infection there (where 95% of cases were due to infection from the variant). The level of protection in the U.S. was 72% and it was 66% in Latin America.

Get the full story at our sister site, Drug Discovery & Development.