Leadership

This week, the FDA announced a new head of its device evaluation office; synthetic genomics firm Constructive Bio landed $58m in funding; and Natera got a permanent injuction against NeoGenomics Labs' RaDaR assay.

Tim Schmid, executive VP and worldwide chairman of J&J MedTech, expects Shockwave, acquired in April, and Abiomed, purchased in late 2022, to be “long-term gems” for the company. Cardiovascular is among higher-growth segments where J&J has concentrated investments in recent years, along with robotic surgical systems.

The US FDA has published a trio of draft guidance documents for its Assessment Scheme for Conformity Program, which began as a pilot in September 2020 to capitalize on the role of standards in the regulation of medical devices.

Inari Medical is updating use instructions for a clot-removing catheter due to the potential for serious adverse effects, including death.

The Acton, MA-based tubeless insulin pump specialist expands its indication for the Omnipod 5 AID system beyond type 1 diabetes as FDA authorization for type 2 comes sooner than Wall Street expected. Analysts expect clearances of rival systems from Tandem Diabetes Care and Medtronic in 2025, but believe Insulet is well-positioned to compete.

Two years after the EU adopted the original common specifications for certain products under the IVD Regulation, the commission has added new products and updated its requirements.

Former FDA device center head Jeffrey Shuren is facing conflict of interest claims for not recusing himself from regulatory decisions involving clients of his wife’s legal firm. Critics call for an investigation and stricter ethics compliance.

Hello Heart has introduced a symptom tracking feature in its app, allowing users to log feelings of dizziness or shortness of breath in conjunction with blood pressure readings. The enhancement will help all users to monitor cardiovascular risks, but women in particular could benefit, the company suggests.

The Seattle-WA-based company’s latest capital raise follows study results published in July in which Know Labs’ proprietary non-invasive RF dielectric sensor and machine learning algorithms correctly classified participants’ glycemic status as hyperglycemic, normoglycemic, or hypoglycemic with 93.37% accuracy compared with venous blood glucose values. Know Labs' goal is to commercialize a diabetes screening device that could help to funnel undiagnosed patients into the health care system.

Global investment firm Carlyle has agreed to pay $3.8b for Baxter International’s Kidney Care unit. The newly spun-off business will be known as Vantive.

An interactive look at recent executive-level company changes and promotions in the medical device and diagnostics industries.

On 29 July, Guardant Health Inc. announced it received US FDA approval for its blood test Shield to be used as a primary screening option for colorectal cancer, bringing it one step closer to gaining Medicare coverage.

The US FDA device center head is retiring after 28 years in the federal sector and 15 at the helm of CDRH. Deputy center director Michelle Tarver will step in as acting head.

Royal Philips’ ninth annual Future Health Index global report reveals a growing acceptance by clinicians and health care stakeholders of virtual care and AI-enabled innovation. These tools can address workforce shortages, financial burdens and growing demand for care, said chief innovation and strategy officer Shez Partovi.

An interactive look at recent executive-level company changes and promotions in the medical device and diagnostics industries.

In a Tuesday webinar from the Alliance for a Stronger FDA, CDRH head Jeffrey Shuren said that a “politicized and toxic” environment in Washington could limit the agency’s ability to keep up with innovation and responding to new threats.

As a biomedical engineer, Blair Hirst saw how health technology could help patients – and how some communities were slowest to benefit. As founder of the Digital Health Review, she now works to improve equity in health care spaces.

Theradaptive, which makes a device-biologic combination product to help speed bone healing, recently got authorization to start human trials from the US FDA. Medtech Insight spoke to CEO Luis Alvarez about the company’s past, present and future.

Ankur Dhingra has replaced Joydeep Goswami as Illumina’s chief financial officer after Goswami spent just 14 months on the job. The San Diego-based sequencing and array tech company also appointed Jakob Wedel as chief of strategy and corporate development officer.

Maria Shepherd, co-founder of MedExec Women, a nonprofit that seeks to empower executive leaders in medtech, is preparing to host the group’s fifth annual conference in Boston, which is expected to draw 200 attendees. Shepherd spent more than two decades in the medical device industry before starting consulting firm Medi-Vantage. She talks to Medtech Insight about her own career path, how the industry is changing, and the importance of “grooming” the next generation of young medtech leaders.