MedTech

EU throws weight behind Pfizer-BioNTech and new technology

In a stinging rebuke to pharma giant AstraZeneca Wednesday, the European Union announced plans to negotiate a massive contract extension for Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine insisting the 27-nation bloc had to go with companies that had shown their value in the pandemic. “We need to focus on technologies that have proven their worth,” said EU Commission […]

Official: EU agency to confirm AstraZeneca blood clot link

A top official at the European Medicines Agency says there’s a causal link between AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine and rare blood clots, but that it’s unclear what the connection is and that the benefits of taking the shot still outweigh the risks of getting COVID-19. Marco Cavaleri, head of health threats and vaccine strategy at the […]

AUB starts U.S.-based company for research on cardiovascular disease

In a MedTech first for the Mediterranean country of Lebanon, a team from the American University of Beirut (AUB) has established a biotech corporation in the U.S. devoted research on biomarkers for cardiovascular disease. The school told Inside Telecom that team physicians and scientists from AUB have founded the first US-based biotech S-Corporation, Teucer Biotech […]

WebMD bestows Health Heroes Awards amid continuing pandemic

Health Portal, WebMD, announced Tuesday the winners of their 2021 Health Heroes Award, with recipients ranging from frontline health workers, the well-known infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, a Native American fashion executive and a teen entrepreneur. For the WebMD editorial team, these persons, and more represent individuals working “tirelessly on the frontlines on the […]

World leaders call for pandemic treaty, but short on details

More than 20 heads of government and global agencies called in a commentary published Tuesday for an international treaty for pandemic preparedness that they say will protect future generations in the wake of COVID-19. But there were few details to explain how such an agreement might actually compel countries to act more cooperatively. World Health […]

UK variant hunters lead global race to stay ahead of COVID

On March 4, 2020, when there were just 84 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.K., professor Sharon Peacock recognized that the country needed to expand its capacity to analyze the genetic makeup of the virus. The Cambridge University microbiologist understood that genomic sequencing would be crucial in tracking the disease, controlling outbreaks and developing […]

Former Google CEO gives $150M for research in biology, AI

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife, Wendy, have given $150 million to a research institute to establish a “new era of biology” aimed at battling diseases with a mix of data and life science studies. The Massachusetts-based Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard will use the funds to build a new center that […]