Supply chain developments reported by Becker's since July 26.
1. Dental laser and medical device company Biolase received five new patents in the U.S. and seven foreign patents in the last 12 months. John Beaver, the company's president and CEO, said the new patents are all related to the Biolase Waterlase system and Epic diode technologies.
2. Parikshit "Park" Mehendale joined Think Surgical as its new vice president of operations last week. Mr. Mehendale has worked for medical technology companies Stryker, Zimmer-Biomet and United Technologies. He will lead the orthopedic surgical robot developer's supply chain, strategic sourcing and new product transfer operations.
3. Last week, SprintRay partnered with the BEGO group to create SprintRay Crown, a new 3D-printing resin. The product allows dentists to print crowns and other restorations in their offices in fewer than 60 minutes at a lower cost compared to other products.
4. The boom in demand for Pfizer's antiviral COVID treatment Paxlovid slowed last month, with less than half of Pfizer's production capacity sold, according to data surveillance company Airfinity. Pfizer said it can manufacture 120 million packs but has only sold 50 million. According to Becker's previous reporting, the decrease in demand may be attributed to staffing shortages, pharmacy deserts or the controversial FDA decision to allow pharmacists to prescribe the treatment.
5. On July 27, the FDA cleared Bavarian Nordic to manufacture more of its monkeypox vaccine. Bavarian Nordic is the only vaccine-maker with an authorized monkeypox vaccine. The federal agency, along with the European Medicines Agency, expedited the process to assess the manufacturing plant in June after the global monkeypox outbreak began.
6. HHS said nearly 800,000 additional monkeypox vaccine doses will soon be available for distribution to states and jurisdictions July 28. The 786,000 additional doses of the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine are on top of the more than 300,000 doses already distributed, meaning the U.S. has secured a total of about 1.1 million doses "that will be in the hands of those who need them in the next several weeks," HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said.
7. Minneapolis-based Medtronic issued a class 1 recall of its Palindrome and Mahurkar hemodialysis catheters July 29. The recall is due to a catheter hub defect that could lead to a leaking condition. According to the FDA, there was one complaint but no reports of death or injuries caused by the defect.
8. Fort Worth, Texas-based Rhino Health received $58 million to expand its nitrile glove facilities in south Fort Worth. The company received the funding from New Markets Tax Credit with capital from five community development entity leaders. The company plans to use the $58 million for equipment and working capital for its $200 million expansion of its manufacturing plant at Majestic Fort Worth South Business Park, creating 520 jobs at the 400,000-square-foot lease facility, and it expects to produce 3 billion nitrile gloves per year.
9. The next shipment of the monkeypox vaccine Jynneos isn't expected until October at the earliest. The October shipment is expected to contain 500,000 doses of the vaccine.