Ariste Medical recently won FDA 510(k) clearance for its drug-embedded, polypropylene hernia mesh to fight microbial colonization. The Salt Lake City-based drug-device developer said the patents and proprietary formulations behind the technology could prevent infection, inflammation or clotting associated with implants. Ariste’s synthetic mesh carries two antibiotics — minocycline and rifampin — to prevent contamination…
Roche finalizes repurchase of shares from Novartis
Roche (SIX:RO,ROG) has announced that it has completed the repurchase of 53.3 million shares held by Novartis (NYSE:NVS) for a total consideration of $20.7 billion. In early November, the companies had announced that they had agreed to a bilateral transaction related to the sale of the shares. Roche intends on canceling the repurchased shares after…
President Biden unveils initiative to boost COVID-19 vaccination numbers
With new cases of COVID-19 increasing 14% in the past two weeks, President Biden is aiming to convince unvaccinated Americans to get their first dose of the vaccine. CDC data show that the highly transmissible Delta variant now dominates the U.S., driving close to 52% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. from June 19 to…
7 core strategies in Biden’s battle against COVID-19
Included in President Joe Biden’s sprawling strategy document for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic are an array of plans intended to ramp up vaccination efforts. Also in the plan are proposals for accelerating the development of therapies such as antiviral compounds effective against SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses with pandemic potential. The “full-scale, wartime” plans have considerable relevance…
U.S. plans to ship 6.4M COVID-19 vaccine doses to states in mid-December
About 6.4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and its partner BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX) will ship to U.S. states in mid-December, as long as the vaccine soon receives an FDA EUA. There are also plans to quickly distribute vaccine from rival COVID-19 vaccine developer Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA), which could soon apply for an EUA, officials at the…
McKesson could pay $8B to settle opioid lawsuits
Medical supply firm McKesson (NYSE:MCK) announced in a quarterly report that it and two other drug distributors could pay as much as $21 billion in opioid lawsuit settlements over 18 years. Under the new proposal, McKessons’s share of the settlements could be $8 billion. Rivals AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) and Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) would pay the remainder…