MedTech

mRNA vaccine aim to target flu strains & COVID-19

Moderna has begun human trials for an mRNA vaccine called mRNA-1010, that targets multiple influenza strains, the company announced Wednesday.  The American pharmaceutical and biotechnology firm based in Cambridge, aims on the long run for one seasonal shot for flu, COVID-19, respiratory viruses RSV, and HMPV.  The flu shot is designed to target four strains of influenza viruses that circulate seasonally each year, just like the current quadrivalent flu vaccines on the market.   The four virus […]

Apple publishes list of products that can affect pacemakers

People who have a pacemaker or an implantable cardioverter defibrillator should be aware that the magnets used in common tech gadgets may potentially interfere with their medical devices. Accordingly, Apple published a list of its products that might risk tampering with medical devices such as pacemakers and implanted defibrillators. The Big Tech company advised its […]

WHO decision challenges West to recognize Chinese vaccines

The World Health Organization said Thursday that any COVID-19 vaccines it has authorized for emergency use should be recognized by countries as they open up their borders to inoculated travelers. The move could challenge Western countries to broaden their acceptance of two apparently less effective Chinese vaccines, which the U.N. health agency has licensed but […]

MIT, Harvard develop smart face mask to detect COVID-19

Scientists at MIT and Harvard University have created a smart face mask that can detect COVID-19 results of the person wearing it within about 90 minutes. The masks are implanted with tiny, non-reusable sensors that can be attached into other face masks and could also be altered to detect other viruses. The sensors are based […]

Offices after COVID: Wider hallways, fewer desks

The coronavirus already changed the way we work. Now it’s changing the physical space, too. Many companies are making adjustments to their offices to help employees feel safer as they return to in-person work, like improving air circulation systems or moving desks further apart. Others are ditching desks and building more conference rooms to accommodate […]

Orange, AXA acquire majority stake in Moroccan HealthTech company

Orange Middle East and Africa and AXA CIMA entities led by AXA Assurance Maroc announced on Monday a joint agreement to acquire a majority stake in DabaDoc, the Moroccan HealthTech company digitalizing access to healthcare in Africa, alongside the company’s founders. DabaDoc – which was founded by Zineb Drissi-Kaitouni and Driss Drissi-Kaitouni earlier in 2014 […]

WHO grants emergency approval to 2nd Chinese COVID vaccine

The World Health Organization has issued an emergency use listing for the COVID-19 vaccine made by Sinovac for adults 18 and over, the second such authorization it has granted to a Chinese company. In a statement Tuesday, the U.N. health agency said data submitted to its experts showed that two doses of the vaccine prevented […]

Social media heavyweights wooed for Pfizer smear campaign

Social media influencers in France with hundreds of thousands of followers say a mysterious advertising agency offered to pay them if they agreed to smear Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine with negative fake stories. French YouTuber Léo Grasset was among those contacted. He said Tuesday that he was offered a potentially lucrative but also hush-hush deal to […]

EU signs new deal with Pfizer-BioNTech, Hungary opts out

The European Union’s executive arm on Thursday finalized a third vaccine contract with Pfizer and BioNTech through 2023 for an additional 1.8 billion doses of their COVID-19 shot to share between the bloc’s countries except for Hungary, which opted out of the deal. The European commission said the contract, which was agreed on behalf of […]

India vaccine-maker hopes to share shots by end of the year

The Serum Institute of India said Tuesday that it hopes to start delivering coronavirus vaccine doses to the U.N-backed effort known as COVAX and to other countries by the end of the year, a delay that will significantly set back global efforts to immunize people against COVID-19. India’s Serum Institute, the world’s biggest vaccine-maker and […]