LONDON – Intensive monitoring of health care workers at two hospitals in London showed that despite having a blood biomarker of infection, 58 of them did not test positive for COVID-19 at any point, suggesting they may have been clearing subclinical infections before seroconversion.
PARIS – Royal Philips NV has signed a deal to acquire Cardiologs Technologies SAS and its artificial intelligence technology. The financial terms surrounding the transaction have not been disclosed. The two companies expect to close the deal in the coming months.
LONDON – A pilot study has shown that whole genome sequencing can pinpoint the genetic causes of rare diseases, even in people who had previously not been given a diagnosis after undergoing sequencing of their protein coding exome.
Ultrasound companies, Caption Health Inc. and Ultromics Ltd. are linking up to jointly offer Caption’s AI software platform with Ultromics’ Echogo deep ultrasound analytics for cardiovascular disease detection.
PARIS – The French National Agency for the Safety of Medicinal and Healthcare Products (ANSM), has published its latest annual report on the drugs and medical devices market in France. This body, placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Health, is responsible for monitoring all healthcare products throughout their cycle, for collating and analyzing reports of adverse reactions, and for implementing corrective action across the nation.
Color Health Inc. followed its rainbow to another pot of gold, collecting $100 million in a series E financing round led by Kindred Ventures and funds advised by T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. Returning funding round participants also included General Catalyst, the company’s long-time lead investor, Viking Global Investors and Emerson Collective. With the latest cash infusion, the company’s total funds raised to date reached $378 million and its valuation of $4.6 billion propelled it into the top dozen health care unicorns. Founded in 2017 as Color Genomics, the Burlingame, Calif.-based company has raised more than two-thirds of its total funding this year with today’s series E following the close of a $167 million series D round in January.
Geninus Inc. endured a difficult debut on Korea Exchange’s Kosdaq board, but still raised ₩40 billion (US$33.83 million) through its listing. The 2 million shares on offer tumbled 25.56% at ₩13,400 (US$11.33) at the close of trading on Nov. 8, after Geninus priced them at ₩20,000.
LONDON – PCR point of care testing specialist Quantumdx Group Ltd. is poised to accelerate its commercial development in China, after the Hong Kong venture capital fund Vita Spring made a £15 million (US$20.3 million) equity investment.
PERTH, Australia – Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has approved Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd.’s lead prostate cancer imaging agent, Illuccix. Illuccix (TLX591-CDx) is a Gallium-based PSMA imaging agent and cold kit for developing radiopharmaceutical products and diagnostic agents. Telix’s prostate cancer program consists of a companion diagnostic imaging agent (TLX591-CDx) and a therapeutic (TLX-591) to improve the detection and treatment of prostate cancer.
Fapon Biotech Inc. expanded its presence in the global next-generation sequencing (NGS) market by acquiring all of the shares in U.S. firm Sequlite Genomics US Inc. With the acquisition, the Dongguan, China-based Fapon Biotech will manage Sequlite’s product development and business operation.