Medical device companies – including Sientra, Endologix and Invacare – won loans from the US government’s Paycheck Protection Program, intended to protect jobs during the coronavirus pandemic. In total, nearly 1,400 device makers collected as much as $1.6bn, according to a Medtech Insight analysis of PPP data.

RevMedx Inc. received FDA de novo approval in April for battlefield use of XStat, which treats noncompressible bleeding from internal wounds. The injectable sponges of XStat expand upon contact with blood to fill the wound cavity, thus creating a temporary barrier and providing hemostatic pressure until hospital care can be rendered.

Scientists at CellGate Inc. say they have demonstrated that linking short peptide polymers of the amino acid arginine to a drug molecule will both increase the molecule's water solubility and help get it through the cell membrane. Moreover, this proprietary strategy for enhancing drug bioavailability appears to work with any class of compound. Harnessing this universal transporter technology, CellGate plans to build a service business around taking well-characterized molecules and turning them into better drugs.

Armed with a better understanding of the bad actors in the misguided immune response that causes allergies, companies hope to develop long-lasting treatments for asthma.