Genome Insight has successfully secured an additional $23 million in a second Series B funding round. This investment comes after an earlier $23 million Series B funding round. The funds will be utilized to support the company’s objectives in developing bioinformatics diagnostic tools. Thought-Provoking Questions/Insights:
Author: Abhay Panchal
A consortium led by City of Hope has been awarded a $4.5 million grant with the goal of validating a noninvasive screening test for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The test will be evaluated in a large-scale and diverse cohort. This initiative is a significant step towards advancing liquid biopsy screening for pancreatic cancer, offering a potential breakthrough in early detection and treatment for patients. Thought-Provoking Questions/Insights:
A physician from United Digestive, Dr. Daniel K. Mullady, has successfully conducted the first Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM) procedure in Savannah, Georgia. Dr. Mullady, a renowned expert in gastroenterology and interventional endoscopy at the Center for Digestive and Liver Health (CDLH), achieved this landmark, signifying a pivotal moment for the local medical sector and patients requiring advanced esophageal treatments. The POEM procedure is a minimally invasive endoscopic technique designed to treat esophageal motility disorders, especially achalasia. It involves making a minor cut in the esophagus and using endoscopic instruments to access and sever the muscles causing constriction. This allows for…
Healio Gastroenterology was delighted to honor its 2023 Healio Disruptive Innovators during a prestigious awards ceremony at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Meeting. Now in its sixth year, the annual Healio Disruptive Innovators Awards celebrate the achievements of exemplary leaders in gastroenterology and hepatology. Each of the awardees in the nine categories have changed the face of gastroenterology or hepatology and pushed the status quo toward the betterment of the field.
Apple is making strides to establish a significant presence in the healthcare sector by incorporating health monitoring and disease prevention features into its flagship products, as reported by Bloomberg on Nov. 1. Central to Apple’s marketing strategy for the Apple Watch is its focus on health and fitness. The latest model of the watch boasts features such as a built-in thermometer for fertility planning, a blood oxygen level sensor, sleep monitoring capabilities, and the ability to conduct electrocardiograms. Additionally, Apple has transformed the iPhone into a device that not only monitors fitness but also provides access to medical records from…
Deaths and disability-adjusted life-years lost due to digestive diseases decreased over the last few decades, according to analyses of the Global Burden of Disease study data. However, incidence and point prevalence remained relatively steady, and there is significant variation across sociodemographic strata in all four measures. As part of the study, a multicenter team examined data on 18 digestive diseases from over 200 countries to describe trends in age-standardized incidence, point prevalence, deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) from 1990 to 2019 (Gastroenterology 2023;165[3]:773-785). The researchers also stratified their results by quintile of the sociodemographic index (SDI), a defined measure ranging…
A new analysis from the QUASAR study reveals that patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) who had previously shown intolerance or had failed to respond to advanced therapies still benefited from guselkumab treatment. The intravenous (IV) guselkumab 200 mg treatment for moderately to severely active UC resulted in significant improvements in clinical, symptomatic, and endoscopic outcomes compared to a placebo. While the most notable benefits were observed in patients without a history of intolerance to advanced therapies, the data suggests that prior intolerance to treatments like tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists or Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors shouldn’t prevent the use of…
Artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine has shown both promise and pitfalls. While there’s enthusiasm for its potential in drug discovery and diagnosing conditions, there have been instances of inaccurate predictions and unintended consequences. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is actively discussing AI’s role but faces criticism over its vetting process. President Biden has issued an executive order addressing AI’s security and privacy risks in health care. Doctors seek clarity on how AI tools are developed and tested. Concerns also arise from the lack of transparency and publicly available information on these tools. As AI’s presence in health care grows,…
Just over half of endoscopists use cold snare polypectomy to remove small polyps of less than 1 cm, even though the U.S. Multisociety Task Force recommends its use for small lesions. This was revealed in new research presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in Vancouver. Cold snare polypectomy is favored for removing polyps smaller than 1 cm due to its high complete resection rate and strong safety profile. In contrast, forceps and hot snares often result in high incomplete resection rates, inadequate histopathologic specimens, and/or increased complication rates. The average endoscopist cold snare polypectomy rate…
A post hoc analysis of the ELEVATE UC trials showed a “rapid treatment effect” with early symptomatic response in patients treated with etrasimod for ulcerative colitis. The findings were presented by Marla C. Dubinsky, MD, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital, at the ACG Annual Scientific Meeting. The study revealed that more patients treated with etrasimod compared to placebo achieved clinical remission and response during the 12-week induction period for both ELEVATE UC 52 and ELEVATE UC 12. Key takeaways from the study include: