Intuitive Surgical Investors Are Playing a High-Stakes Game of Telephone

Is Intuitive Surgical gearing up to launch a new da Vinci robot in 2024? CEO Gary Guthart gave a “no comment” response to the question at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, which I took to mean, “don’t count on it.” But the investor community seems to have heard something different because the company’s shares have shot up by over 13% since then.

Source: Intuitive Surgical Investors Are Playing a High-Stakes Game of Telephone

J&J completes $16.6B acquisition of Abiomed 

Johnson & Johnson Inc. closed its acquisition of Danvers medical device maker Abiomed Inc. on Thursday. The deal weighed in at $16.6 billion, making it easily one of the largest acquisitions of the year. The acquisition valued Abiomed (Nasdaq: ABMD) at $380 per share — about a 50% premium over where they were trading prior to Nov. 1, when Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE: JNJ) proposal was first announced. Abiomed shareholders will also receive a non-tradeable contingent value right worth $35 a share in cash if Abiomed achieves certain commercial and clinical milestones.

Source: J&J completes $16.6B acquisition of Abiomed – Boston Business Journal

MIT NEWDIGS moves to Tufts Medical Center

A drug development think tank at MIT that helps solves systemic health care challenges has moved its headquarters from MIT to Tufts Medical Center, where it will integrate its research with real-world clinical work.

Founded in 2009, the MIT New Drug Development Paradigms, or NEWDIGS, program works on challenges in drug development to help speed up the process from getting a drug from the bench to the bedside. Calling itself a “think and do tank,” with one foot in the biomedical industry and another in the health care delivery world, the group works with people across the health care system — treatment developers, payers, clinicians, provider systems, patient advocates, diagnostics companies, academic researchers and investors — to study how to fill gaps in patient care.

Source: MIT NEWDIGS moves to Tufts Medical Center – Boston Business Journal

New Smart Syringe Uses NFC to Store Drug Information

NP Plastibell has announced a pre-filled “smart syringe” with an embedded NFC chip that relays information about the medicine to practitioners and patients.

Source: New Smart Syringe Uses NFC to Store Drug Information – News

Diabetes Tech Is Having Its Best Year Yet

As anticipated, FDA has approved the next generation Eversense 180-day continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system from Senseonics. This approval is one of many big milestone activities expected in the diabetes management space in 2022.

Source: Diabetes Tech Is Having Its Best Year Yet

GE Healthcare to buy surgical device maker BK Medical for $1.45B 

General Electric Co.’s health care division has agreed to pay $1.45 billion to acquire BK Medical, a Peabody-based maker of tools that assist surgeons during invasive and robotic operations.

Source: GE Healthcare to buy Peabody surgical device maker BK Medical for $1.45B – Boston Business Journal

Abbott Lays Off More than 300 Employees as Testing Demand Declines

The COVID-19 testing bubble could be on the verge of popping for Abbott Laboratories. The company is eliminating 310 jobs at its Westbrook, ME manufacturing facility according to a report from Mainebiz.

Source: Abbott Lays Off More than 300 Employees as Testing Demand Declines

Cynosure Expands Portfolio with New Acquisition

Cynosure seems to be doing just fine after it was divested from Hologic in 2019. The medical aesthetics company is even getting involved in some acquisitions.The Westford, MA-based company said on Friday it entered into an agreement to acquire the MyEllevate Surgical Suture System, expanding the company’s portfolio of minimally invasive facial rejuvenation solutions.

Source: Cynosure Expands Portfolio with New Acquisition

Insulin-injection device maker CeQur brings in $115M to launch J&J-licensed product 

Marlborough-based CeQur, a maker of insulin delivery devices, has raised $115 million in capital as it gears up to launch its wearable insulin injector later this year.

Source: Insulin-injection device maker CeQur brings in $115M to launch J&J-licensed product – Boston Business Journal

Clinical Trial For DEKA Dialysis Device Being Considered At Manchester VA

A new public-private partnership may bring the clinical trial of a dialysis device to the Manchester VA. The device, the CVS Kidney Care’s HemoCare Hemodialysis System developed by DEKA research in Manchester, would allow dialysis patients to complete the process at home.

Source: Clinical Trial For DEKA Dialysis Device Being Considered At Manchester VA | New Hampshire Public Radio

Abbott’s Fast Easy-to-Use COVID-19 Antigen Test Receives FDA Emergency Use Authorization

ABBOTT PARK, Ill., Aug. 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Abbott (NYSE: ABT) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for its BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 Ag Card rapid test for detection of COVID-19 infection. Abbott will sell this test for $5. It is highly portable (about the size of a credit card), affordable and provides results in 15 minutes. BinaxNOW uses proven Abbott lateral flow technology, making it a reliable and familiar format for frequent mass testing through their healthcare provider. With no equipment required, the device will be an important tool to manage risk by quickly identifying infectious people so they don’t spread the disease to others.

Source: Abbott’s Fast, $5, 15-Minute, Easy-to-Use COVID-19 Antigen Test Receives FDA Emergency Use Authorization; Mobile App Displays Test Results to Help Our Return to Daily Life; Ramping Production to 50 Million Tests a Month – Aug 26, 2020

Thermo Fisher’s COVID-19 Test Could Have Inaccurate Results

FDA warned earlier this week that Thermo Fisher Scientific’s TaqPath test could have a risk of false results. This follows the Waltham, MA-based company exiting its bid to acquire Qiagen for $12.5 billion.

Source: Thermo Fisher’s COVID-19 Test Could Have Inaccurate Results