Verax Biomedical announced it has entered an exclusive US distribution agreement with Fisher Healthcare for its Platelet PGD Test. The assay is used for the detection of platelet bacterial contamination in hospital transfusion service settings.

Medtronic's shares increased 2.7% to $107 in premarket trading, beating analysts' expectations. The rise was driven by demand for the company's minimally invasive therapies, including surgical instruments for treating hernias and kidney disease.

Royal Philips has introduced its HeartStart Intrepid monitor/ defibrillator with IntelliSpace Connect in Europe and specific markets in Africa and Asia. The device enables caregivers to assess and treat patients during medical emergencies.

A $27.4 million research and development center, named the NUS-Agilent Hub for Translation & Capture, was launched by Agilent Technologies, National University Hospital and the National University of Singapore. The center has laboratories that will aim to use data analytics and data from blood samples to improve the accuracy of clinical diagnostics.

Pharmacy benefit managers owned by insurance companies should not be worried about Amazon's entrance into the pharmaceutical industry, according to a report from SVB Leerink. Amazon's PillPack will have difficulty competing but poses some risk to large mail-order pharmacies, writes SVB Leerink's Ana Gupte.