University of Oxford

Ultromics' EchoGo® Amyloidosis, an AI-based software-only medical device, received FDA clearance for early detection of Cardiac Amyloidosis, becoming the first device under the FDA's Total Product Lifecycle Advisory Program to achieve marketing authorization. This tool enhances detection using echocardiography with minimal clinical information, aiding in earlier diagnosis and treatment.

Clinical psychiatry is moving towards precision medicine, leveraging big data to personalize diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. Prognostic models assess individual risks for adverse mental health outcomes, such as violence, and can be translated into risk assessment tools. For instance, individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders have a 2-5 times higher risk of violence compared to the general population, which increases with comorbid substance misuse. Existing risk assessment tools, like the Historical Clinical Risk Management-20, have limitations, including being time-consuming and lacking probability scores. The Oxford Mental Illness and Violence (OxMIV) tool, developed using data from over 75,000 individuals with severe mental illness in Sweden, addresses these issues by providing probability scores and being user-friendly. Integrating such tools into clinical practice can improve risk assessment and facilitate personalized, early interventions, enhancing patient care and safety.

Rwanda combats Rift Valley Fever outbreak with heightened surveillance and vaccination campaigns, but rapid diagnostic tests are unavailable, hindering early detection. A human vaccine candidate, ChAdOx1 RVF, enters Phase II trials in Kenya, offering hope for protection against the disease.

MyMelanoma, a UK melanoma research project led by the University of Oxford, aims to recruit 20,000 patients for the largest study to improve understanding and treatment. Selected for NHS DigiTrials pilot, it offers nationwide patient participation, aiming for individualized care and answering previously unaddressed research questions.

The BHF Oxford Centre of Research Excellence (BHF Oxford CRE) has launched at the University of Oxford, uniting its cross-disciplinary cardiovascular research community. The CRE focuses on three key research themes: Big Data & Computational Science, Repair & Regeneration, and Drug Discovery & Delivery. The BHF has committed £35m to support centres of research excellence awards across nine UK universities.

NICE declined to recommend lecanemab and donanemab, new monoclonal antibody treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, in draft guidelines due to high costs and concerning side effects, despite MHRA licensing them for early-stage AD patients with no or one copy of the ApoE4 gene.

FDA lifts clinical hold on Novavax's COVID-19-Influenza Combination and stand-alone influenza vaccine candidates, allowing Phase 3 trial enrollment to resume after addressing clinical hold issues.

Germany, Italy, and France have suspended AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine use pending EMA review, following similar measures by other European countries.