The voluminous American Rescue Plan – the second largest stimulus package in U.S. history – has something for everyone. Almost. The $1.9 trillion package that passed the Senate over the weekend and is expected to be passed by the House March 9 failed to extend the current moratorium, set to expire April 1, on the 2% Medicare sequestration.

The FDA issued an advisory about the use of thermal imaging systems as screening instruments for the COVID-19 pandemic landing the same day as a warning letter to Certify Global Inc. The agency’s concern is that these systems are being used without consideration for the limitations, including that they are not appropriate for mass screenings due to inaccurate findings that could elevate the risk of spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

PARIS – Median Technologies SA has unveiled a new clinical development plan for its Ibiopsy platform to provide early diagnosis of lung cancer in at-risk populations using low dose CT scans. Median executives said they hope to demonstrate the potential of deep learning in identifying lung lesions and characterizing them as malignant or benign.

PERTH, Australia – Genetic Technologies Ltd. signed a co-exclusive licensing deal with U.S.-based central lab Infinity Biologix LLC (IBX) for the production, sale and distribution of Genetic Technology’s COVID-19 serious disease risk test in the U.S. Branded as Genetype, the genotyping test combines a patient’s clinical profile with their genetic information to compute a patient’s risk of developing severe disease from COVID-19.

Corvista Health Inc. has raised $65 million in a series C equity financing led by Ambix Life Science Fund I LP. The new funds are earmarked for ongoing research, product development and commercialization of the company’s noninvasive, point-of-care (POC) solution for rapid detection of heart disease. Joining Ambix in the round were Medventure Partners and several new and existing investors. With this latest infusion, Corvista has raised a total of nearly $100 million.

HONG KONG – Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Israel have developed a way to instantly monitor blood levels of the antipsychotic drug clozapine. BGU’s solution is based on an electrochemical microsensor developed by Hadar Ben-Yoav from BGU’s Department of Biomedical Engineering and Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology.

Agilent Technologies Inc. will acquire Resolution Bioscience Inc. for $550 million in cash at closing and up to an additional $145 million based on performance milestones. The deal will expand Agilent’s cancer diagnostics offerings and its presence in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology for the fast-growing precision medicine market. The acquisition is expected to close in April 2021.

Non-clinical testing for the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been a major goal for regulators across the globe for months. Emergency use authorization (EUA) was just granted by the FDA is for the Quidel Quickvue COVID-19 test, an at-home antigen test with a turnaround time of 10 minutes. It’s the latest in a series of approvals of home tests and collection kits that promises to help control the pandemic.