This week’s health tech news from across the web

To save you from trawling the web looking for health tech news, we have compiled bitesized versions of some of the top stories published on other sites this week.

Scottish health tech company secures £1.7m for research

Glasgow-based medical device specialist Nebuflow has secured an oversubscribed £1.7 million investment round, according to Digit News on May 10.

Nebuflow’s nebuliser has been developed to provide a number of advantages over existing technologies in a global nebuliser market valued at over $1 billion.

CEO Dr Elijah Nazarzadeh said: “Our technology enables efficient respiratory delivery of a wider range of drugs that are hard to nebulise. Many of these drugs, like biologics, are potentially life-saving.”

The new investment will help the company commercialise and deliver its next generation respiratory pharmaceuticals.

Queen’s speech highlights new UK data protection regime

Plans for a new data protection regime were confirmed in the Queen’s Speech delivered by Prince Charles on Tuesday.

The speech includes a brief reference to the government’s drafted proposals, which would replace the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Background notes were light on detail. However, the government aims to reduce burdens on business and support scientific innovation, reports UKAuthority.

Julian David, CEO of IT industry association techUK, said:

“Developing a clearer, more trusted, and innovation enabling data governance system is one of the most obvious opportunities of Brexit.

“New legislation should deliver changes to the law to clarify the legal basis for how data can be re-used for research and innovation, as well as introduce an exhaustive list of activities where data can be more easily accessed to help companies innovate.”

Partnership launches $20m bio health fund in Indonesia

MDI Ventures, the venture arm of Telkom Indonesia, has partnered with state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma to create the Bio-Health Fund.

Bio-Health Fund is an investment vehicle for early- and growth-stage start-ups in Indonesia’s biotech and healthcare industry.

The two firms have prepared $20 million for the fund’s first stage, according to a report in Tech in Asia on May 12.

Through the partnership, start-ups will have access to Bio Farma’s resources as a pharmaceutical manufacturer and healthcare provider.

They will also be able to learn from MDI Ventures’ expertise in healthcare deals.

President director of Bio Farma Honesti Basyir said: “The ultimate goal is to form a national health ecosystem.”

NHS calls for expansion of virtual wards

NHS England and NHS Improvement are calling on all integrated Care Systems (ICSs) to extend or introduce the virtual ward model, reports Digital Health.

A document titled ‘Supporting information for ICS leads: Enablers for success: virtual wards including hospital at home‘ aims to support ICSs with their strategic and financial decisions on virtual ward management.

At a minimum, NHS England expects each system to implement virtual ward models for acute respiratory infection and frailty.

Infinity Health is working with London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust to manage its virtual ward caseload.

The initiative has saved considerable person hours, with one team making 3000 fewer calls a year, saving eight hours a day of admin time. The team’s patient capacity has increased by 55 per cent.

Read more about this in our Special Report – Working Smarter in a Post-Covid World.

Report published on managing risks of health technology

A medical standards non-profit has published a consensus report for identifying, evaluating, and managing risks for health tech that includes artificial intelligence or machine learning.

Existing standards for regulated medical devices do not yet adequately address the potential risks of emerging artificial intelligence and machine learning applications, the report states.

This could “jeopardise patient health and safety, increase inequalities and inefficiencies, undermine trust in healthcare, and adversely impact the management of healthcare.”

According to Med-Tech News on May 11, the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) report responds to an urgent, immediate need.

Pat Baird, co-chair of the AAMI Artificial Intelligence Committee, said: “We always put safety first, and improvements to performance can come a little later.”