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Health & Biotech
Health insurer Medibank Private (ASX:MPL) says it will not pay any ransom demand for the data theft last month.
“Based on the extensive advice we have received from cybercrime experts we believe there is only a limited chance paying a ransom would ensure the return of our customers’ data and prevent it from being published,” CEO David Koczkar said.
“In fact, paying could have the opposite effect and encourage the criminal to directly extort our customers, and there is a strong chance that paying puts more people in harm’s way by making Australia a bigger target.
“It is for these reasons we have decided we will not pay a ransom for this event.”
The company says the criminal accessed the name, date of birth, address, phone number and email address for around 9.7 million current and former customers and some of their authorised representatives.
That figure represents around 5.1 million Medibank customers, around 2.8 million ahm customers and around 1.8 million international customers.
The cyberhacker also accessed health claims data for around 160,000 Medibank customers, around 300,000 ahm customers and around 20,000 international customers.
On the bright side, they didn’t get any credit card info or access primary identity documents, like drivers’ licences (we’re looking at you Optus). Oh, but they did get passport numbers and visa deets for international student customers – not the expiry dates though. Phew.
The company says it will let customers know individually what data has been stolen, and has set up a cyber response support program, which has mental health and wellbeing support, identity protection and financial hardship measures.
Your private data could be published online but at least Medibank will reimburse you for any ID replacement fees. Win!
PYC has successfully completed single-dose Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) toxicology studies for its investigational drug candidate for the treatment of Retinitis Pigmentosa type 11 (RP11) – which means human trials are on the horizon.
The results demonstrated RP11 was safe and well tolerated at all doses assessed and the company will now submit an Investigational New Drug application prior to initiating a combined Phase 1/2 clinical trial in patients potentially by Q1 2023.
TELIX PHARMACEUTICALS (ASX:TLX)
The company’s ZIRCON Phase III study of imaging agent TLX250-CDx in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) has met all of its primary and secondary endpoints.
The company says these “ground-breaking results” indicate that TLX250-CDx has the potential to become a new clinical standard in the diagnosis of ccRCC and deliver an unmet medical need for a non-invasive diagnostic tool in this disease setting.
“[TLX250-CDx] could optimise surgical intervention – particularly in the incidence of very small renal masses,” Telix chief medical officer Dr Colin Hayward said.
“These results provide confidence that TLX250-CDx is an important tool not only for initial diagnosis but potentially also for active surveillance and disease staging.”
The plan is to progress towards a Biologics License Application (BLA) filing with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and worldwide regulatory filings in key commercial jurisdictions.
Cann says it has positively progressed negotiations with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Australia Pty Ltd (trading as Haleon) on terms relating to the commercialisation of its proprietary Satipharm CBD capsules for over-the-counter (OTC) use.
The company has now agreed and signed a non-binding term sheet with proposed milestone payments, sales-related payments and manufacturing margins to be paid to Cann and confirms the intended grant of exclusive rights to Haleon for the marketing, sales, distribution and promotion of the product within Australia and New Zealand and an exclusive right of first negotiation to obtain an exclusive licence to commercialise the product in other jurisdictions.
The parties will continue with the negotiation of a definitive agreement in parallel with Haleon’s evaluation of the product.
A Phase III clinical study to support registration of the product in Australia is underway with recruitment targets having recently been met, the results of which are expected to be available early in calendar year 2023.
AROVELLA THERAPEUTICS (ASX:ALA)
The European Patent Office has issued a notification of Intention to Grant a patent for the invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cell therapy platform to treat cancer.
The patent application, which covers the manufacturing of CAR-iNKT cells, is expected to proceed to grant in early 2023 following completion of the grant formalities.
Corresponding applications are pending in the United States, Canada, China, Hong Kong and Australia.
Respiri has enrolled the first patients into its wheezo Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) program. It’s not “financially material”, but it does marks a key milestone in the rollout of the company’s USA business strategy.
Respirir says the wheezo device is uniquely positioned in the large and growing US respiratory disorders RPM market as it provides an easy to use, reproducible and validated wheeze monitoring solution that qualifies for the RPM CPT reimbursement codes. These enable doctors to provide and be paid for services to patients “that are widely regarded as key to reducing complications, exacerbations, attacks, hospitalizations and ultimately deaths,” the company says.
Respiri says recently announced major customers Children’s Hospital of Michigan and the Healthcare Organisation based in North Carolina are close to onboarding patients on the wheezo program.
The VR and AR company has just sold its first Operator LE virtual reality training system to the Western Australian Police Force.
The five-year contract is valued at up to $1.7m, with an initial order value of $1.04m to be delivered early 2023.
Operator LE allows officers to train operational tactics and procedures within a portable, virtual reality environment with a VR system that’s complementary to existing training methods and allows officers to train more often. It’s hoped that will lead to increased preparedness across a broad range of scenarios centred on de-escalation tactics, use of force decision making, and operational procedures.
The Western Australia Police Force includes 7300 sworn officers.
The health software player has nabbed a contract for Acurio Health Group to provide MasterCare PAS, Patient Portal, data warehouse and e-switch Integration engine to the currently under construction health and wellbeing hub, The George Centre, which will be one of the largest private hospitals in Sydney and the only private paediatric facility in the state.
This follows other recent client wins across NSW, including Arcadia Pittwater and Matilda Nepean, Wolper Jewish Hospital, East Sydney Private Hospital, Alwyn Rehabilitation Hospital, Royal Rehab Private Hospital, Metropolitan Rehabilitation Hospital and Wesley Mission – all of whom have come on board with Global Health’s MasterCare solution.
Overall, the total contract value of all client solutions is approximately $502,000.
Health & Biotech
Health & Biotech
Health & Biotech
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