The results of Reducer 1, an international, three-arm observational study of an initial 241 patients with refractory angina were remarkable, Neovasc COO Bill Little told BioWorld.

TORONTO – Edmonton’s University of Alberta is lending its neuromotor research smarts to a wearable, machine learning driven sensors platform developed by Menlo Park, Calif., and Calgary, Alberta-based Protxx Inc. for better managing the future care of patients suffering from neurodegenerative conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS).

TORONTO – Industry-led accelerator Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen) has dipped into its CA$50 million (US$37 million) supercluster fund to help three Canadian companies beef up the nation’s supply of COVID-19 equipment and medical devices.

TORONTO – Once he’d enrolled in an entrepreneurial engineering course, third-year medical school student Gabriel Georges’ task was deceptively simple: come up with a device to meet an unmet medical need. Before long, Georges had pulled two other students with engineering and investor relations smarts into the project, developing a minimally invasive, long-term transcatheter heart pump that this month garnered financing from Canadian and U.S. investors.

TORONTO – What do agricultural pesticides and concealed weapons have to do with med-tech advances in fighting COVID-19? Plenty, according to Canada’s science and industry ministry.

Due to the pressing challenges of COVID-19, Health Canada is giving drug companies six more months to prepare for major reforms to its 1987 Patented Medicines Regulations.

TORONTO – Vancouver, B.C.-based Sonic Incytes Medical Corp. is giving MRI a run for its money assessing chronic liver disease following a successful, CA$3.5 (US$2.6 million) seed round. That brings total funding to CA$8 million (US$5.92 million) for a hand-held ultrasound device that quantifies liver disease using 3D tissue sampling and analysis in approximately five minutes in a doctor’s office.

TORONTO – Toronto-based Epineuron Technologies Inc. reported the completion of a financing round to develop and clinically validate neuroregenerative technology intended for the recovery of patients suffering from peripheral nerve injuries. Designated a breakthrough device by the U.S. FDA, the “nerve bandage” uses brief bioelectronic stimulation of injured nerves to “upregulate” associated genes that accelerate nerve regeneration.

TORONTO – Vancouver, British Columbia-based Izotropic Corp. has inked a deal with Victoria, British Columbia-based based Starfish Medical Inc. to commercialize a CT scanner Izotropic CEO Robert Thast said will be a major disruptor of the breast imaging industry. Izotropic has spent approximately $20 million over the past 15 years to develop the system and is counting on Starfish to help translate this into a market-ready 3D breast CT imager by the end of 2020.

Within a month of disclosing a CA$175.6 million (US$124.7 million) award from the Canadian government to use its antibody discovery platform for the analysis of patients who have recovered from COVID-19, Abcellera Biologics Inc. closed a $105 million series B financing aimed at expanding its capacity and investing in new technologies that complement its antibody discovery engine.