June 2023 • PharmaTimes Magazine • 9
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Robotic platform R-One launched by Robocath
Robocath – a company that focuses on robotic solutions for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases – has announced the launch of its most recent robotic platform.
The R-One+ will be demonstrated during the EuroPCR conference in Paris this week. The robotic solution provides the opportunity for an interventional cardiologist to perform coronary angioplasties by controlling devices using an integrated control command unit.
This unit is situated in the control room and delivers two main benefits: firstly, the system protects the cardiologist and wider medical team from radiation-induced injuries. Secondly, the R-One+ makes the procedure safer. Furthermore, cardiologists will be able to perform enhanced hand gestures with greater precision.
Lucien Goffart, chief executive officer at Robocath, reflected: “The launch of R-One+ shows what our company is all about – that is, listening to our users’ needs and fostering exceptional partnerships between our different units in order to produce the best possible results for physicians.”
He added: “I would like to thank the medical community for giving their time so willingly and for their excellent advice. I would also like to thank all our staff who have worked so hard to launch this new robotic platform and, in doing so, taken us one step further on our roadmap to greater commercial success.”
Integrated pathology unit to focus on novel technology
The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust have announced the opening of their new Integrated Pathology Unit (IPU).
The facility will allow researchers, with a particular interest in clinical trial research, to establish and develop new tests for cancer – speeding up the diagnosis process for results.
Funded by the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, the ICR, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Royal Marsden and ICR Biomedical Research Centre, the IPU will have access to a considerable portfolio of pivotal clinical trials.
It is hoped that the unit will bring pathology into the modern era by incorporating AI, pioneering laboratory techniques, helping pathologists deliver new research programmes as well as improving the diagnosis and treatment of cancer for patients.
Pathologists operating at the new IPU – located at the NIHR Centre for Molecular Pathology in Sutton – are already digitising tissue samples from patients treated at the Royal Marsden, or patients participating at clinical trials at other cancer centres around the UK.
New technologies they develop could also show how different cancers interact with their environment as they develop and spread – helping to diagnose patients more accurately. Meanwhile, researchers are also incorporating computer algorithms to measure tumour boundaries and the make-up of cancer tissues more accurately.
HOT & NOT
AlzeCure – a company that focuses on developing Alzheimer's disease treatments – has announced that the European Patent Office has granted a patent covering the company’s candidate, ACD856.
The drug has been developed to target the effects of Alzheimer's disease and other disorders linked to cognitive impairment.
AlzeCure’s patent application for ACD856 across Europe has been duly granted by the EPO and established in 33 European territories, including France, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Spain and the UK.
Scarlet Therapeutics – a company focused on developing red blood cell therapeutics – has announced that it has generated seed funding from both Meltwind and Science Creates Ventures.
The vital financing will allow Scarlet to advance the development of its blood cell platform, while also building a pipeline of novel therapies to target rare diseases. Therapeutic red blood cells are very comparable to regular red blood cells but contain different proteins.
AnaMar has announced positive results from its phase 1 research relating to the use of its peripheral 5-HT2B receptor antagonist, AM1476, as a treatment for systemic sclerosis characterised by lung and skin fibrosis.
AM1476 is a selective small molecule, provided as an orally administered tablet, and was discovered to be safe and well-tolerated at all relevant doses across a study of nearly 100 healthy individuals.
Eisai has submitted a Marketing Authorisation Application for its lecanemab therapy – an investigational anti-amyloid beta (Aβ) protofibril antibody.
The drug treats early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and specifically targets mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia with confirmed amyloid pathology in the brain. It has already been assigned by the MHRA for the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway. Eisai leads the development and regulatory submissions globally for lecanemab.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in England has urged its members to continue striking and increase pressure on ministers to improve previous pay offers.
RCN general secretary Pat Cullen insisted: "Once again, we have been forced to ask our members if they want to take to the picket lines in their fight for fair pay.
"This is unfinished business and the government can get it resolved without the need for more strike action."
The 2023 edition of the World Health Organization’s yearly World Health Statistics report will reveal the catastrophic worldwide loss of life incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Across 2020-2021 the report states that COVID-19 resulted in a combined 336.8 million years of life lost across the globe. This number equates to, on average, 22 years of life lost for every excess death.
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