Researchers at the Riken Center for Advanced Intelligence Project in Japan developed artificial intelligence (AI) technology that found previously unknown features related to prostate cancer occurrence in unannotated pathology images.
HONG KONG – South Korean biopharma Genesen Inc. has secured ₩2.2 billion (US$1.9 million) in seed funding to advance its peptide-based drug candidates for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.
While the disappearing drug-eluting stent seems to have faded from view for the time being, several manufacturers have invested in fabrication of drug-eluting stents with polymers that absorb once the drug of elution has done its work. A new study indicates that patients who have already had a myocardial infarction fare better on stents made with these biodegradable polymers, an outcome that may soon push second-generation DES devices into med-tech history.
A mitochondrial glutamine transporter variant of the SLC1A5 gene is a key regulator of glutamine metabolism and metabolic reprogramming in cancer cells, and targeting such transporters could be a new strategy for controlling tumor growth, Korean researchers reported online in the Dec. 19, 2019, edition of Cell Metabolism.
HONG KONG – To boost the competitiveness of its medical device industry, South Korea will invest ₩1.2 trillion (US$10.3 billion) in medical device R&D over the next six years. Despite some high expectations for the new support, there are concerns about inefficient budget execution, and that the scheme is too short a term.
Drug diversion in hospitals is a serious concern, facilitated in part by inadequate security controls that allow unauthorized staff to access the pharmacy stock. To help thwart this problem and improve medication management, Taipei, Taiwan-based Cyberlink Corp. and Imedtac Co. Ltd. are teaming up to bring facial recognition technology to the hospital medicine cabinet.
HONG KONG – Chinese med-tech regulators said in December that conditional approvals are now available to medical devices after the government created speedy review channels for devices that the country needs.
With many on Wall Street transfixed by the three injectable calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) therapies cleared in the prophylactic migraine market, Satsuma Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s prospects with STS-101 may have gone overlooked, at least until lately.
HONG KONG – Aiming to attract more active innovation to its medical device industry, South Korea updated some of its industry regulations through 2019. The ultimate goal was to make it easier for advanced medical technologies that use artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and 3D printing that have yet to penetrate the market due to inefficient approval processes.
MALAYSIA – Asian countries, like India, have been struggling to find a middle ground to the effective pricing of drugs and medical devices over the past year and several are looking at health technology assessment (HTA) programs as a solution for this issue in the coming year.