Keeping tabs on Covid-19: Thermo Fisher supports vaccine demand with new manufacturing site and clinical AI algorithm offers real-time medical advice
To ensure the accuracy of Covid-19 test results, Thermo Fisher has dedicated a new facility to accelerate production and ensure quality control by utilizing high-quality viral transport media production
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In Pharma IQ’s first-ever weekly round-up we published news on how Sensyne Health had provided the National Health Service (NHS) in England with a remote monitoring system for the management of diabetes in pregnancy in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
This week, a new update emerges from Sensyne as they form a new partnership with Microsoft to provide clinicians with real-time guidance for coronavirus treatments and Thermo Fisher opens a new manufacturing facility to meet the relentless demand for Covid-19 products.
Clinical AI firm partners with Microsoft to create an algorithm engine for real-time monitoring
Sensyne Health has announced a partnership with Microsoft to utilize its health cloud technology to create a clinical algorithm engine called SENSE to support clinical decision making in real-time.
Using machine learning, SENSE synchronizes with a database of millions of patients in the UK. It provides clinicians with the ability to input up-to-date information on a patient’s condition to receive reasoned advice to make rapid, informed clinical decisions and improve operational efficiency.
Sensyne has signed its first agreement with Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust for an algorithm produced by the SENSE system. The algorithm aims to provide more personalized care for patients with Covid-19, integrating data into an existing real-time dashboard which allows clinicians to augment their clinical decisions with near real-time risk prediction for three outcomes: risk of intensive care unit admission, the need for mechanical ventilation and in-hospital mortality.
Lord Paul Drayson PhD, chief executive officer of Sensyne Health said: “The SENSE system is a major step forward in unifying different elements of our clinical artificial intelligence technology together with Microsoft’s health cloud technology to deliver multiple clinical algorithms at scale.”
Robert Hodgkiss, deputy chief executive at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “Chelsea and Westminster has a long tradition of innovation. SENSE supports our key purpose to provide high-quality care for patients and make the best use of resources. We took major steps forward in our agile working during the Covid-19 pandemic and we are committed to supporting our clinicians to make crucial treatment decisions on the front line.”
Thermo Fisher builds Covid-19 test tube manufacturing facility in six weeks
Thermo Fisher Scientific officially cut the ribbon on its new US$40mn facility in Lenexa, Kansas, dedicated to helping meet the expected rise in demand for Covid-19 test tube products.
In May 2020, Thermo Fisher received contact from the US government to provide a significant quantity of highly specialized viral transport media (VTM) for the Covid-19 sample collection. In response, Thermo Fisher increased its demand for VTM products from 50,000 units per week to now more than 8 million per week since the new manufacturing facility began production in July 2020.
Gianluca Pettiti, senior vice president of Thermo Fisher and president of its specialty diagnostics department said: “Thanks to the hard work of Lenexa’s manufacturers, we have significantly increased production of VTM units. The team has worked with unrelenting intensity to build out and open a new site in just about six weeks. They understood the urgent national need, accepted the challenge and have delivered for the American people.”
US Senator Jerry Moran said: “Widespread testing is a necessary component to keep the American economy running safely. Thermo Fisher has stepped up to produce additional test tubes to help meet the national demand for Covid-19 testing and has created 300 new jobs by expanding its manufacturing base in Lenexa.
“Thermo Fisher’s ability to manufacture test tubes and significantly increase production is important for making Americans feel secure in their health and safely return to work.”
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