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Drugmakers, FDA try to build public confidence in COVID vaccine decisions

November 17, 2020 The CEOs, who head vaccine front-runners AstraZeneca, Moderna and partners Pfizer and BioNTech, as well as GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Merck, Novavax and Sanofi, also say they will put patient safety first and will “adhere to high scientific and ethical standards regarding the conduct of clinical trials and the rigor of … Read more

How Biden plans to change the US pandemic response

November 13, 2020 “The pandemic is getting significantly more worrisome all across the country,” Biden said on Friday.  “I want everyone to know on day one, we’re going to put our plan to control this virus into action.” There were dauntingly high new case numbers last week, and by the time Biden takes office January … Read more

National Survey Shows Encouraging Decline in Overall Youth E-Cigarette Use, Concerning Uptick in Use of Disposable Products

November 10, 2020 In September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released new data from the 2020 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), which show 1.8 million fewer U.S. youth are currently using e-cigarettes compared to 2019.  After two (2) years of disturbing increases in youth … Read more

Scripps study suggests wearables could predict COVID-19 infection

November 05, 2020 Could wearables be used to detect potential COVID-19 cases?  A group of researchers at the Scripps Research Translational Institute found that changes in sleep, activity levels and heart rate, paired with symptom data, could be used to identify COVID-19 cases.  Their results were published in Nature on Thursday. The idea behind the … Read more

Mojo Vision sees $51M round for its smart vision-improving contact lens

November 03, 2020 Led by New Enterprise Associates, the series B-1 round brings the company’s total funding to $159 million.  Additional backers included Gradient Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Liberty Global Ventures, Struck Capital, Dolby Family Ventures, Motorola Solutions Venture Capital, Fusion Fund, Intellectus Partners, KDDI Open Innovation Fund, Numbase Group, InFocus Capital Partners and others. The … Read more

Saliva Test For Heart Attacks Could Reduce Hospital Trips

October 29, 2020 The test, which takes as little as 10 minutes to complete, could allow more people to be diagnosed quickly and by non-medics outside the clinic or hospital setting.  It measures levels of a protein called troponin, which is a measure of cardiac damage and is present in higher amounts than normal in … Read more

Working backward, a brain-computer interface returns a sense of touch after complete spinal cord injury

October 27, 2020 Battelle has been collaborating with the University’s Wexner Medical Center on this project for years; the company’s NeuroLife program aims to build neural bypass technology that can reconnect the brain with muscles previously cut off by a severe spinal cord injury or other nerve damage. One study participant, Ian Burkhart, has lived … Read more

Novel blood test predicts psychotic disorders years before they emerge

October 22, 2020 Only around a quarter (1/4) of young people who display mild, transitory psychotic symptoms at an early age ultimately go on to develop a serious psychotic disorder.  Schizophrenia, for example, is generally not clinically diagnosed until a person reaches their twenties.  However, the condition is known to present a number of signs … Read more

FDA issues COVID-19 vaccine EUA guidance after clash with White House

October 20, 2020 Last month (in September 2020), Agency officials, including FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn and Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) Director Peter Marks, indicated that additional guidance on COVID-19 vaccine EUAs would be forthcoming.  At the time, the Washington Post and other outlets reported that FDA was looking at a median of … Read more