National Institutes of Health (NIH) Archives - Page 2 of 2

NIH increases PhysIQ contract to $6.6M

PhysIQ announced today that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) entered into Phase II of a contract for its AI-based COVID-19 biomarker.

A Purdue University-affiliated artificial intelligence company, PhysIQ’s AI-based COVID-19 digital biomarker is being developed to address the rapid decompensation of high-risk COVID-19 patients, according to a news release.

PhysIQ’s technology’s cloud platform continuously collects and processes data from any wearable biosensor. In this case, the platform seeks out biomarkers to determine if a person infected with COVID-19 is experiencing a worsening in their condition.

Instead of using measurements such as temperature and pulse oximetry, PhysIQ’s platform offers multi-parameter vital signs and physiological features which establish a targeted biomarker (COVID-19 Decompensation Index — CDI) for worsening coronavirus-caused condition.

The contract option, exercised by the National Canc…

iotaMotion lands $1.65M NIH grant to develop robotic cochlear implant tech

Robotic surgical technology developer iotaMotion announced that it received a $1.65 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Iowa City, Iowa-based iotaMotion said in a news release that it is using the grant funds to continue developing its real-time tissue trauma sensing technology in the iotaSoft robotic surgical system designed for assistance in cochlear implantation surgery.

The iotaSoft system is a robot-assisted insertion device designed to allow surgeons to advance cochlear implant electrodes with more control and precision, which the company believes will allow for less surgical variability.

In addition to the NIH grant, iotaMotion said it received the inaugural Iowa Biosciences Medtech Award. The $20,000 prize recognizes significant progress and investor support over the last year and has been earmarked for supporting regulatory and pre-commercialization efforts.

“These NIH funds will be used to advance technology…

NIH to boost COVID-19 testing capabilities

[Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash]

The National Institutes of Health announced a $129.3 million plan to support scaling and manufacturing for COVID-19 tests.

As part of its Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative, NIH is awarding contracts to nine companies for their technologies that include portable point-of-care tests for immediate results and high-throughput laboratories that can produce results in 24 hours.

Yesterday’s announcement follows a July investment in seven companies from NIH worth $248.7 million in new technologies to address challenges with COVID-19 testing.

Some of the testing technologies are also being supported by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) as part of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, along with Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), in the U.S. Defense Dept.

Here are the nine co…

Does plasma therapy work against COVID-19? NIH panel says data lacking

[Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash]

More than a week after the FDA granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the use of convalescent plasma against COVID-19, an NIH advisory panel is saying that there is insufficient data to recommend either for or against the treatment.

The National Institutes of Health’s COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel said in a statement released today: “There are currently no data from well-controlled, adequately powered, randomized clinical trials that demonstrate the efficacy and safety of convalescent plasma for the treatment of COVID-19.”

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

NIH puts $4.3M into convalescent plasma trial for COVID-19 treatment

The National Institutes of Health today awarded the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore a $4.3 million grant to test plasma in treating COVID-19.

Einstein and Montefiore launched a Phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of convalescent plasma in treating COVID-19 in April. The $4.3 million will support the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, according to a news release.

The NIH grant did not go directly to the principal investigators of the trial, but instead to the Clinical and Translational Science Awards program, which funds the Block Institute for Clinical and Translational Research at Einstein and Montefiore (ICTR).

Convalescent plasma therapy received FDA approval for investigational use in an open-label protocol in March. Researchers at Einstein and Montefiore are pursuing the “gold standard” of a clinical trial to determine if the plasma can alleviate COVID-19 symptoms and reduce mortality rates…

MedTech 100 roundup: Industry hits another mid-pandemic high

Despite a minor regression week-over-week, the medtech industry’s stocks hit another milestone as the COVID-19 rebound remains in progress.

MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — sat at 89.01 points at the end of last week (July 31). Overall, medtech stocks saw a -0.3% increase from the 89.29-point total at the same time a week prior (July 24).

On July 30, the index reached 90.37 points, marking its highest point since that pre-pandemic high, with the previous mid-pandemic high (90.11) coming last week.

The most recent high mark represents just a -2.1% dip from the Feb. 19 high point of 92.32, marking the smallest margin of decline over the past five months.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index saw a 1.7% increase from July 24 to July 31, and the Dow Jones Index posted a -0.2% drop over the same period of time.

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

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…

Eko lands $2.7m federal grant for heart disease detection study

Eko announced today that it received a $2.7 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Oakland, Calif.-based Eko said in a news release that the grant will be used to fund its collaborative work with Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute as they validate algorithms to help screen for pathologic heart murmurs and valvular heart disease during routine office visits.

Eko and Northwestern announced their collaboration in March 2019 in an effort to find a low-cost option for identifying patients with heart disease without screening tools like echocardiograms.

This year alone, Eko received FDA approval in January for its suite of algorithms that combine with the company’s digital stethoscopes to screen for heart conditions, then in March it won FDA emergency use authorization for its novel ECG-based algorithm that screens for low ejection fraction in COVID-19 patients.

“This SBIR …

3M, MIT working on paper-based, rapid COVID-19 test

The 3M COVID-19 test team works at at the pilot lab facility at 3M’s Minnesota headquarters. (Image courtesy of 3M)

3M (NYSE:MMM) announced today that it is working with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers to develop a paper-based, rapid test to detect the virus that causes COVID-19, with the potential to manufacture millions of tests per day.

The test would detect viral antigens and deliver “highly accurate results within minutes” via a paper-based device, according to the Maplewood, Minn.-based company. It could be administered at the point-of-care and would not need to be sent to labs for testing.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) selected the rapid COVID-19 test for accelerated development and commercialization support, after review by an expert panel, 3M added. Researchers received $500,000 in validation funding from the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostic…

Plakous lands $1.7m from NIH to develop newborn treatment

Plakous Therapeutics announced that it received more than $1.7 million in a research grant from he Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The Phase I-II fast-track small business innovation research (SBIR) grant, worth up to $1.725 million, is slated to help Plakous develop novel therapies for preventing the necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) disease in premature babies. The grant is set to supplement Plakous’ currently open $4 million seed round.

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

Partnership will study use of existing drugs for COVID-19 and and more

A new collaboration funded by in part by $1.1 million from the FDA is working on finding new uses for existing drugs for areas of high unmet medical need — with a pilot project focused on treatments for COVID-19.

The Critical Path Institute (C-Path) this week announced the launch of the CURE Drug Repurposing Collaboratory (CDRC). The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is also supporting the public-private partnership, which aims to create a network connecting major treatment centers, academic institutions and researchers, private practitioners, government facilities and health care professionals around the world.

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