Lunit Inc. is the latest South Korean firm to gain the U.S. FDA’s 510(k) clearance for Lunit Insight DBT, its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered breast cancer diagnostic tool that analyzes digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) images, boosting its efforts to enter the U.S. market. The company also reported that it secured $150 million in a public offering.
Therabionic GmbH received U.S. FDA humanitarian device exemption (HDE) for its P1 device for at-home treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, which accounts for 80% of all liver cancers, in patients who have failed first- and second-line therapies.
The acquisition of Icad Inc.’s brachytherapy business by Elekta AB takes the company a step closer to achieving its goal of providing hope to the millions of people dealing with cancer, John Lapré, president of Elekta’s Brachy and Neuro Solutions unit, told BioWorld. Elekta paid approximately $5.5 million for Icad’s subsidiary Xoft. In addition, most of Xoft’s staff and its main facility in San José, Calif., was transferred to the company.
Quibim SL and Royal Philips NV have teamed up to utilize their artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled solutions to help clinicians deliver faster diagnosis and treatment of patients with prostate cancer. The partnership will see Philips AI-based magnetic resonance (MR) imaging technology integrated into Quibim’s AI based QP-Prostate software, to automate real-time prostate gland segmentation in MR images, and generate meaningful quantitative insights, as well as standardize MRI prostate exam reporting.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is in full development, and advances are already used in many fields, including medicine. In oncology, these tools can identify a tumor in an image with 99% accuracy. But they can also miss it if the algorithm was not developed with the right data or the correct decisions. The 2023 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress brought together in Madrid doctors and deep learning experts to discuss the challenges and advances of AI in this area. And what’s better than asking an AI what its trainer has told it about AI?
The mRNA technology used in vaccines against viral infections could also be developed for cancer therapies. A group of scientists has designed a circular RNA (circRNA) encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) that acts in the mitochondria of tumor cells through the protein gasdermin-D (GSDMD) and reduces adenocarcinoma. The work was published on Oct. 16, 2023, in Nature Cancer.
No one is looking in the rearview mirror at Medtronic plc as a fresh U.S. FDA approval for the next generation version of its intrathecal drug delivery system allows the company to leave behind a spate of problems associated with its Sychromed II device. The device delivers medication directly to the fluid surrounding the spinal cord via a small catheter positioned to deposit the drug at the site of most severe pain. The targeted delivery improves management of chronic and cancer-related pain as well as management of severe spasticity without use of systemic opioids.
AOA Dx Inc. closed an oversubscribed $17 million seed round to expand the clinical trial for its ovarian cancer diagnostic test, build out new lab facilities and explore applications of its Glycolocate platform in other cancers. The platform uses tumor marker gangliosides to enable early cancer. A recent study demonstrated that the test had more than 90% sensitivity and specificity for ovarian cancer detection across all stages.
Precede Biosciences Inc. emerged from stealth having raised $57 million in seed and series A financing to fund its genome-wide platform. The blood-based platform detects and provides critical insight into the biological activity of genes and pathways in diseased tissue to improve care and development of new therapeutics.
At its annual investor day at the American Society for Radiation Oncology meeting in San Diego, Accuray Inc. reported that its Tomo C radiation therapy system obtained approval from the Chinese National Medical Products Administration for the country’s type B market. The system will be made in China through the company’s joint venture, CNNC Accuray (Tianjin) Medical Technology Co. Ltd.