European regulators have given CE mark certification to Ambu for its aScope 4 Broncho sampler set, a combined single-use bronchoscope and specimen sampling system. The design of the device lowers sample contamination risk and prevents accidental suction tubing detachment.

A team of researchers identified an area in the DNA of acute myeloid leukemia cells in children associated with overproduction of the gene RARA that was sensitive to the drug tamibarotene in lab cultures and in animals, according to a study in the journal Blood Advances. The researchers suggested further studies be conducted to explore whether tamibarotene could be used to treat children with AML and high levels of the RARA.

Columnist Erik Kobayashi-Solomon examines how LanzaTech is altering the genetic code of C. autoethanogenum bacteria with the help of CRISPR and artificial intelligence. "LanzaTech's Bioinformatics group is essentially using AI to identify the few metabolic pathways that are likeliest to yield the best biochemical results in much the same way that your phone's mapping app chooses the street routing that are likely to yield the quickest travel time," Kobayashi-Solomon writes.

A COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's CanSinoBio was safe in children age 6 to 17 when they were given a lower dose than what was administered to adults, according to a small clinical trial of the vaccine that has not yet been approved for use in children. Chinese regulators approved three other vaccines for use in children as young as age 3, but no children under age 12 have received one.

Rapid COVID-19 tests made by Celltrion and Abbott Laboratories will be purchased by the US for use in nursing homes and high-risk populations, according to an unnamed senior administration official. The federal government agreed to pay more than $1 billion total for the tests from the two manufacturers.

Hexagon Bio has raised an additional $61 million from a funding round that the company will use to advance its research to develop drugs for cancer and infectious diseases ​derived from fungi.

US Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack spoke at the annual meeting of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture held this week. Vilsack said the US plans to hold Mexico accountable to the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement over the trade of biotech corn.

Data from 1,613 pregnant women vaccinated against COVID-19 in their second or third trimester showed the vaccine was not associated with a higher risk of birth defects or miscarriage, says CDC Medical Officer Christine Olson. Another researcher, Dr. Elyse Kharbanda of the HealthPartners Institute, found no link between COVID-19 vaccines and stillbirths in a study that tracked pregnant, vaccinated women in the CDC's Vaccine Safety Datalink database.

European regulators have given CE mark certification to LGC SeraCare for its AccuPlex SARS-CoV-2, Flu A/B, and RSV Reference Material Kit.

State Medicaid programs should cover Biogen and Eisai's Alzheimer's disease drug Aduhelm as an outpatient drug, said John Coster, director of pharmacy at CMS' Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services. Speaking at AHIP's National Conference on Medicare, Medicaid & Dual Eligibles, Coster said Biogen is part of Medicaid's drug rebate program, though states can create criteria for treatment eligibility.