🩺 Health Futures #33

Happy Monday 👋

This week, major themes in health include health regulations/policies, biotech, and digital health. In health regulations/policies, the Indian government banned 156 FDC drugs made from "irrational" combinations of two or more drug ingredients. Flagship Pioneering agreed with Pifzer to identify new drug candidates targeted for cardiovascular and kidney diseases in the biotechnology sector. In digital health, Ochsner Digital Medicine partnered with AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana, the partnership uses remote patient management (RPM) to help members with chronic conditions manage their health. In funding, Getinge acquired Paragonix Technologies for $477M which develops organ preservation technology.

💉 Health Policies and Regulations

 💊 The Indian government banned 156 FDC drugs. The drugs include antibiotics, antiallergics, painkillers, multivitamins, and combination doses for fever and hypertension. The government stated that the use of these FDCs involves risk to human beings and that safer alternatives are available.

🏥 Pharmaceutical companies Aurobindo Pharma, Glenmark, and FDCK recalled products in the US. Aurobindo Pharma recalled a pain-relieving medication due to missing labels, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals recalled Indomethacin Extended-Release Capsules due to failed dissolution specifications, and FDC recalled Timolol Maleate Ophthalmic Solution USP due to defective containers.

🧬 BioTech

💊 Flagship Pioneering partners with Pfizer. The companies announced two research programs with Quotient Therapeutics. The collaboration aims to analyze somatic mutations in diseased patient tissue to inform the discovery and development of potentially transformative therapies for cardiovascular and renal diseases.

🧪 Unovia launched a follow-up trial for diabetes and obesity drug candidates.   Earlier, The company secured FDA approval for the clinical trial. Unovia introduced phase 1 clinical trials to verify the safety of drugs that treat obesity and diabetes.

🔬Cosciens Biopharma announced its Phase III DETECT trial. The trial results came across that while Macimorelin could stimulate growth hormone release, it did not achieve the required efficacy for the primary measure of success.

💻 Digital Health

🧑‍⚕️ Ochsner Digital Medicine partners with AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana. This partnership would allow AmeriHealth to access Ocshner’s remote patient monitoring technologies.

🏥 BCUHB in North Wales selected a technology partner to implement an electronic prescribing system. The new ePMA rolled out to more than 40 hospitals through suppliers better. It will replace paper-driven processes with a digitized system.

⌚ Withings launched new connected health monitoring devices. The device enables patients to monitor their health at home. It includes smart scales, blood pressure monitors, and other wearables.

💰 Deals of the Week

🧫 Getinge, a Swedish company acquired Paragonix Technologies for $477M that develops organ preservation technology.🩺 Zydus Lifesciences acquired a 50% stake in Sterling Biotech from Perfect Day for $66M. The joint venture will focus on manufacturing fermented animal-free protein products.

🧬 GeoVax Labs secured $45M to advance the development of GEO-CM04S1, GeoVax's dual-antigen next-generation COVID-19 vaccine. 

🧪 ZBiotics, a CA-based company, raised $12M in Series A funding. The company aimed to expand its distribution and bring new GMO probiotics. 💵 PatientPay and ClearGage announced their merger to deliver the industry-leading digital billing and payment platform for medical groups, specialty practices, and community hospitals as PatientPay.

Thank you for reading. Have a great week ahead!
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