Week in Review: September 23

By Samantha Rossi • September 23, 2022

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The Week in Review provides an overview of the past week’s top health care content, including industry news and trends, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Laboratories news, and upcoming events.

Industry News

White House launches monkeypox research agenda

Yesterday, the White House announced new research commitments to better understand how to diagnose, treat and prevent monkeypox. Source: The Hill

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Updated COVID booster tied to strong Omicron immune response

The new bivalent Moderna COVID-19 booster is triggering stronger neutralizing antibody responses against omicron variants than the original vaccine booster doses, a new study reports. Source: CIDRAP

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FDA seems poised to approve a new drug for ALS, but does it work?

The Food and Drug Administration is likely to approve a controversial new drug for ALS by the end of the month. But it's still not clear whether the drug, called AMX0035, truly helps people with ALS, a rare and fatal neurological disorder that eventually leaves a person unable to walk, talk, swallow and breathe. In March, the FDA's Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee concluded that a study of 137 ALS patients did not provide "substantial evidence" that AMX0035 was effective. Then in September, after prodding from FDA officials and an email campaign by patients and their families, the same committee reconvened, and this time recommended approving the drug. The FDA, which usually follows advisory committee recommendations, has indicated it will make a decision by Sept. 29. Source: NPR

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Mayo Clinic News

Mayo Clinic: collaborations, startups to drive innovation

Mayo Clinic in Florida is investing in innovation-related resources and a network to connect talent to them. Launched in 2020, the Mayo Clinic Innovation Exchange is headquartered at Mayo’s Jacksonville campus.  Mayo said the exchange provides fast, impartial connections between staff and external collaborators to drive new business models, treatments and cures to benefit patients at scale.  It said that in two years, membership includes 60 startups from around the world and more than 1,300 Mayo Clinic staff across the Mayo Clinic network. Source: Jacksonville Daily Record

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Why the latest screening tests and treatments offer hope for ovarian cancer

In a study published in Radiology in March 2022, researchers developed a new ultrasound scoring system that may be an easier way to determine whether tumors in the fallopian tubes and ovaries are potentially cancerous and need a further work-up, says Deborah Baumgarten, MD, a professor of radiology at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. “This can potentially spare women from having unnecessary surgery,” says Dr. Baumgarten, who wrote a review of the study in Radiology. Source: Everyday Health

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Mayo Clinic Health System celebrates 30th anniversary

Mayo Clinic Health System is celebrating the 30^th anniversary of its founding, with events being planned for October in conjunction with Mayo Clinic Heritage Days. Source: KTOE

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Samantha Rossi

Samantha Rossi is a Digital Marketing Manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories. She supports marketing strategies for product management and specialty testing. Samantha has worked at Mayo Clinic since 2019.