A unit of Abbott Laboratories is recalling two Covid-19 laboratory test kits as they can potentially issue false positive results, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Oct. 14.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation is partnering with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University to launch a massive genetic data mining project that aims to gain deeper insight into how human genetic variants affect risk for common complex diseases.

U.S. companies are scrambling to boost production of coronavirus tests increasingly in short supply as Covid-19 cases soar and schools and employers revive surveillance programs that will require tens of millions of tests, according to industry executives and state health officials.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Abbott’s Amplatzer Amulet Left Atrial Appendage Occluder to treat people with atrial fibrillation (AFib) who are at risk of ischemic stroke.

The pandemic is pushing more people to seek treatment for obesity, Novo Nordisk’s top boss said on Aug. 5, referring to strong sales of the newly launched drug Wegovy, which helped the drugmaker raise its earnings forecast for full-year 2021.

Abbott Laboratories will pay $160 million to resolve claims that two of the company’s units submitted false claims to Medicare by providing kickbacks to diabetes patients, including “free” or “no cost” glucose monitors, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk will acquire U.S. drug developer Prothena Corp.’s experimental heart therapy PRX004 in a deal that could be worth up to $1.23 billion, the companies said on July 12.

St. Jude Medical, which was acquired by Abbott Laboratories in 2017, agreed to pay $27 million to settle allegations the company knowingly sold defective heart devices, the U.S. Justice Department said on July 8.

Abbott’s Xience family of stents received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for one-month (as short as 28 days) dual anti-platelet therapy labeling for high bleeding risk patients in the United States.

Lilly

Eli Lilly’s investigational diabetes drug tirzepatide is showing significant promise in targeting A1C levels and weight loss in patients with type 2 diabetes, including those who had never been previously treated for the disease. In other positive clinical results presented at the American Diabetes Association’s 81st Scientific Sessions meeting, Novo Nordisk data demonstrated an investigational 2mg dose of injectable Ozempic (semaglutide) generated statistically significant and superior reductions in A1C compared to a 1mg dose of Ozempic.