MedTech 100 roundup: Up-and-down week for industry

Medtech stocks highlighted the topsy-turvy nature of the market last week, but ultimately finished the seven days nearly unchanged.

MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — sat at 89.77 points at the end of last week (Aug. 14). Overall, medtech stocks saw a 0.13% increase from the 89.65-point total at the same time a week prior (Aug. 7).

On Aug. 13, the index reached 90.4 points, a total that nearly poked past the previous mid-pandemic high (90.45), which came just last week.

The most recent high mark represents just a -2.1% dip from the Feb. 19 high point of 92.32, while the tally at the end of the week marks a -2.8% decrease from that pre-pandemic high.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index saw a 0.64% increase from Aug. 7 to Aug. 14, and the Dow Jones Index fared even better, rising 1.8% over the same period of time.

Medtech’s lowest point during the COVID-19 pandemic remains at …

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DoD paying Biomérieux subsidiary $3.1M to boost COVID-19 test production

The U.S. government announced that it signed a $3.1 million agreement with Biomérieux subsidiary BioFire to expand production of its COVID-19 test.

Government funding came from the U.S. Defense Dept. (DoD), in coordination with the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to a news release.

BioFire’s COVID-19 test received FDA emergency use authorization (EUA) in March. The $3.1 million investment from the government will allow the company to increase its manufacturing capacity by expanding its facility in Salt Lake City with two new production lines.

The company is set to triple its manufacturing capacity for tests, beginning in September 2020. Those tests are compatible for use with BioFire’s FilmArray instruments that are, according to a news release, fielded across the DoD and Department of State.

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U.S. to spend $1B for doses of J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate

The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services and Defense Dept. agreed to a $1 billion deal for a vaccine candidate from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ).

HHS and DoD announced the agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutical, as the J&J subsidiary is set to offer large-scale manufacturing and the delivery of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, with the federal government owning 100 million doses of the vaccine.

Get the full story at our sister site, Pharmaceutical Processing World.

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NIH puts $249m into new COVID-19 tests

Quidel’s Sofia 2 point-of-care COVID-19 test. (Image from Quidel/NIH)

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced today that it is investing $248.7 million in new technologies to address challenges with COVID-19 testing.

The “Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics” (RADx) initiative awarded contracts to seven biomedical diagnostic companies to support lab-based and point-of-care tests that could significantly increase the number, type and availability of tests by millions per week as early as September 2020, according to a news release.

Four of the selected technologies offer innovations in laboratory-based testing, including next-generation sequencing, CRISPR and integrated microfluidic chips for increasing testing capacity and throughput while reducing the time needed to receive results.

Remaining are three point-of-care technologies that provide nucleic acid and viral anti…

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U.S. government agencies announce COVID-19 Insights Partnership

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The U.S. Dept. of Energy, Dept. of Health and Human Services and Dept. of Veterans Affairs announced today that they formed a COVID-19 Insights Partnership.

According to a news release, the trio of government agencies formed the partnership as an initiative to coordinate and share health data, as well as to research the virus and add expertise to aid in the fight against COVID-19.

HHS and the VA will utilize the DOE’s high-performance computing and artificial intelligence resources to conduct COVID-19 research and to analyze health data that, according to the agencies, would otherwise not be possible to analyze.

The research and analysis conducted through the partnership is slated to focus on the development outcomes of vaccines and therapeutics, along with virology and other scientific topics surrounding the virus. The DOE’s Summit supercomputer at the Oak Ridge N…

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HHS, DOD invest $7.6m in Hologic COVID-19 test samples

The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense Dept. (DoD) announced a $7.6 million contract for COVID-19 testing from Hologic (NSDQ:HOLX).

Marlborough, Mass.-based Hologic will receive the undenifitized contract with a ceiling of $7.6 million so it can expand production of custom sample collection and processing consumables for COVID-19 testing, according to a news release.

Hologic’s tube, cap and multi-tube unit consumables are used to perform molecular diagnostic tests on the company’s Panther Fusion system. With the additional funds from the contract, Hologic is slated to boost its test production from 4.8 million per month to 6.8 million per month, with the increased consumable volume expected to reach the market by January 2021.

The fully automated Panther systems provide initial results from the tests in approximately three hours, processing more than 1,000 coronavirus tests in 24 hours. Hologic already has two approved …

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HHS taps Pfizer to produce millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses

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Two U.S. government agencies today announced an agreement with Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) for production and delivery of 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, along with the U.S. Defense Dept., agreed to the large-scale production and U.S. delivery deal once Pfizer’s vaccine is successfully manufactured and approved. In addition to the 100 million doses initially agreed upon. the U.S. government will be able to acquire an additional 500 million doses.

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

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MedTech 100 roundup: Industry hits pandemic peak

After five months since medtech stocks peaked before the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the markets, the industry inched back toward that pre-pandemic high.

MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — sat at 88.9 points at the end of last week (July 17). That total represents just a -3.7% dip from the Feb. 19 high point of 92.32, marking the smallest margin of decline over the past five months.

Medtech stocks saw a 5.1% increase from the 84.39-point total at the same time a week prior (July 10), highlighting a large improvement after last week saw almost no material change in the index.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index saw a 1.2% bump from July 10 to July 17, and the Dow Jones Index fared even better, posting a 2.3% increase over the same period of time. Both indexes mirrored the medtech industry’s changes as far as increases, but didn’t see as drastic a change.

Medtech’s lowest point du…

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Feds to buy hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 antigen tests from BD

The U.S. Departement of Health and Human Services is turning to the new COVID-19 antigen test from Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX) as it seeks to boost rapid point-of-care testing.

HHS will buy 2,000 BD Veritor Plus systems and 750,000 SARS-CoV-2 antigen test kits for use in a broad, decentralized network, BD said today. The distribution of the test will start next week.

“The BD Veritor Plus system for rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 is the latest point-of-care testing advance that will significantly expand testing in distributed locations for the benefit of all Americans,” said Dr. Brett Giroir, a four-star admiral and assistant secretary for health at HHS “This development will help identify community spread of the virus by further enabling rapid diagnosis of COVID-19.”

HHS said yesterday that it plans to distribute rapid point-of-care diagnostic test instruments and tests to nursing homes in COVID-19 hotspot geographic areas within t…

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U.S. investing $42m to boost BD syringe and needle production

HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority is helping BD expand operations and manufacturing capacity in Nebraska to boost syringe and needle supplies for an eventual COVID-19 vaccine.

Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX) said today that the total project will cost $70 million, with BARDA providing $42 million. The company expects the new capacity to be online within 12 months.

Get the full story on our sister site Drug Delivery Business News. 

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U.S. paying Novavax $1.6b to ramp up COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing

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The U.S. Health and Human Services Dept. and Defense Dept. announced a joint agreement with Novavax  (NSDQ:NVAX) worth $1.6 billion to scale the manufacturing of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

Gaithersburg, Md.-based Novavax’s commercial-scale manufacturing is expected to produce 100 million doses of the investigational vaccine that would become available for use in clinical trials or, should the FDA grant emergency use authorization (EUA) or approval, the government would be able to distribute the doses as part of a COVID-19 vaccine campaign, according to a news release.

Get the full story at our sister site, Pharmaceutical Processing World.

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MedTech 100 roundup: Another rebound as markets continue to fluctuate

Medtech stocks rebounded from a significant dip earlier in June last week, continuing to highlight the topsy-turvy nature of the markets during the COVID-19 pandemic.

MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — sat at 85.00 points at the end of last week (June 19). That total represents a 3.5% increase from the 82.12-point total at the same time a week prior (June 12), demonstrating another uptick after a -6% drop-off just one week before.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index experienced a 1.9% increase from June 12 to June 19, and the Dow Jones Index fared slightly worse with a 1% increase over the same period of time. Both indexes mirrored medtech’s rebound, having posted -4.8% and -5.6% decreases, respectively, the week before.

Medtech’s lowest point during the COVID-19 pandemic remains at 62.13 on March 23. Since then, the industry’s stocks have experienced 36.8% growth in total. Stocks i…

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