In what represents its first patenting, PBSF Inc. filed for protection of brain monitoring and neuroprotection strategies for infants at high risk on a large scale.

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a tick-borne disease that results from an infection with the SFTS virus, with a case fatality rate of 6.1% to 21.8%. Identifying critically ill patients at the early stages is crucial for clinical management.

The U.S. FDA’s final rule for regulation of lab-developed tests was hardly a shock to the world of regulation, but the final rule might provide a shock for sorts for smaller entities in the diagnostics space. Analysts with Leerink Partners said most companies they routinely track are unlikely to be immediately affected by the final rule, but noted that FDA regulation might make it tougher for smaller, new entries to the space to get to market.

The U.S. FDA has posted the long-awaited final rule for lab-developed tests, which amends the draft rule in a few key respects, but Reps. Diana DeGette and Larry Buchson, once again voiced their opposition to the rule. DeGette and Bucshon acknowledged that congressional inaction has left the FDA with few choices, but called again for passage of the Verifying Accurate, Leading-edge IVCT Development (VALID) Act, which they said is critical because “burdensome regulation of these medical products creates uncertainty in the future of innovation and patient care.”

In what represents just the third PCT filing to have been published in the name of Zurich, Switzerland-based Siva Health AG, protection is sought for a computer-implemented method of classifying an individual suffering from chronic cough.

Peptidream Inc. has reported that an early-phase clinical trial for 64Cu-PD-32766, a 64Cu-labeled radiopharmaceutical targeting carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX), for patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma has been approved by the clinical review board of the National Cancer Center Hospital East in Japan.

Singapore- and U.S.-based Sunbird Bio Pte Ltd. is advancing its blood-based diagnostics platform for neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkison’s disease (AD/PD), amidst new breakthroughs in the AD drug therapies and diagnostics space.

Owlstone Medical Ltd. received $6.5 million in funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which will go towards expanding its Breath Biopsy platform as well as developing breath-based diagnostic tests to identify breath biomarkers for tuberculosis and HIV.

Molecular You Corp. said it has achieved a significant milestone in the early detection of pancreatic cancer. A case report, published in the journal OMICS, described the effectiveness of the company’s proteomic and metabolomic analysis – known as longitudinal multiomics monitoring (LMOM) – in identifying pancreatic cancer in a symptom-free 60-year-old female patient. A biopsy on lesions discovered because of the company’s diagnostic tests confirmed stage 1 pancreatic cancer.