Health Canada Authorizes Canada's First Rapid COVID-19 Antibody Test
BARRIE, ON, Feb. 16, 2021 /CNW/ - Verify Diagnostics announced today that Health Canada has authorized the Assure Tech Ecotest COVID-19 serological rapid test to be used at the point-of-care (POC) for the purpose of screening for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Building on the U.S. FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) granted last year, Verify Diagnostics has worked diligently with Health Canada, since March 2020, to bring this test to Canada. The Assure Tech Ecotest was the first point-of-care fingerstick blood test to be authorized for CLIA Waived use in the United States and is the first Canadian test to be authorized as well.
"Antibody testing is key to understanding the prevalence of COVID-19 in our Canadian communities and, although complicated laboratory solutions are available to accomplish this, rapid testing offers an easy and inexpensive option to healthcare professionals and public health organizations." said Tim Salter, President of Verify Diagnostics. "Use of these rapid tests have been proven effective in dozens of countries that we have provided solutions to and we are very happy to be able to now provide a solution for Canada.".
Verify Diagnostics has promoted the use of antibody tests globally since the beginning of the pandemic as a way to measure the disease's spread through communities and, more recently, to track the efficacy of vaccination programmes. "One of the unknowns related to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines is how long the immunization will remain effective against the virus." said Salter. "We hope that Canada will follow suit with some of the other governments and organizations that we are working with to monitor those that have received inoculations to better understand how long immunity against the virus will last.".
Appropriate training is also an important factor in ensuring that rapid tests are both used properly and interpreted correctly. "We have invested significant resources into creating multilingual online courses for all of the testing solutions we offer, including COVID-19 tests." said Salter. "There's a difference between selling a product and providing a solution, we have always focussed on the latter.".
About Verify Diagnostics Based in Barrie, Ontario, Canada Verify Diagnostics is focussed on delivering innovative point-of-care solutions with specialities in drugs of abuse, fertility and infectious disease testing.
SOURCE Verify Diagnostics Inc.
Health Canada Approves REBLOZYL® (luspatercept), New Class of Treatment for Adult Patients Living with Myelodysplastic Syndromes
REBLOZYL®, an erythroid maturation agent, is the first and only of its kind approved for use in Canada
MONTREAL, Feb. 16, 2021 /CNW/ - Bristol Myers Squibb Canada (BMS) and Acceleron Pharma Inc. announced today that Health Canada has approved REBLOZYL® (luspatercept for injection) for the treatment of adult patients with transfusion-dependent anemia requiring at least two RBC red blood cell (RBC) units over 8 weeks resulting from very low-to intermediate-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) who have ring sideroblasts and who have failed or are not suitable for erythropoietin-based therapy.1 REBLOZYL® represents a new class of treatment for eligible patients as the first and only approved erythroid maturation agent in Canada.1
"Those living with MDS are often dependent on regular RBC transfusions. While these transfusions help manage symptoms of anemia, transfusion dependency is very burdensome for patients," said Dr. Rena Buckstein, MD, FRCPC, Haematologist, associate professor and Head of the Hematology Disease Site Group at Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. "Treatment options to remedy transfusion dependence are limited once first line therapy fails, so REBLOZYL®, as the only erythroid maturation agent in Canada, provides an important MDS treatment to achieve RBC transfusion independence in a subgroup of patients."
MDS are a group of cancers which cause limitations in the bone marrow's ability to produce healthy and mature RBCs,2 and typically occur among older people, and in men more than in women.2
"MDS can significantly impact quality of life; especially for those who are dependent on regular RBC transfusions," said Cindy Anthony, Executive Director, Aplastic Anemia & Myelodysplasia Association of Canada (AAMAC). "We're pleased to see an alternative to transfusions available which can help alleviate some of the burden of the disease and support patients."
REBLOZYL® helps to regulate late-stage RBC maturation in order to potentially reduce the need for RBC transfusions.1
"Bristol Myers Squibb is thrilled to provide Canadians with an additional option beyond RBC transfusions to treat MDS-associated anemia," said Al Reba, General Manager, Bristol Myers Squibb Canada. "This first-in-class treatment is an example of Bristol Myers Squibb's commitment to develop innovative therapies for Canadians living with severe blood disorders."
"Working with our partners at Bristol Myers Squibb, we are excited to help address the needs of Canadians living with MDS," said Habib Dable, President and Chief Executive Officer of Acceleron. "By targeting the ineffective erythropoiesis associated with MDS, REBLOZYL® represents an important addition for the treatment of patients living with this condition."
Health Canada's approval of REBLOZYL® is based upon findings from the phase 3, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled MEDALIST study, which involved patients with very low- to intermediate-risk MDS with ring sideroblasts (MDS-RS) requiring regular RBC transfusions (>2 RBC units per 8 weeks).1 The patients were randomized 2:1 to REBLOZYL® or placebo.1 In the trial, results demonstrated significantly greater percentage of patients treated with REBLOZYL® achieving transfusion independence for eight weeks or longer during the first 24 weeks of the trial as compared to placebo (38% vs. 13%, P<0.001) at primary endpoint.1
About Bristol Myers Squibb Canada Bristol Myers Squibb Canada Co. is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Bristol Myers Squibb Company, a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about Bristol Myers Squibb global operations, visit www.bms.com. Bristol Myers Squibb Canada Co. delivers innovative medicines for serious diseases to Canadian patients in the areas of cardiovascular health, oncology, and immunoscience. Bristol Myers Squibb Canada Co. employs close to 400 people across the country. For more information, please visit www.bms.com/ca.
About Bristol Myers Squibb Bristol Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about Bristol Myers Squibb, visit us at BMS.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.
About Acceleron Acceleron is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutics to treat serious and rare diseases. Acceleron's leadership in the understanding of TGF-beta superfamily biology and protein engineering generates innovative compounds that engage the body's ability to regulate cellular growth and repair.
Acceleron focuses its research, development, and commercialization efforts in pulmonary and hematologic diseases. In pulmonary, Acceleron is developing sotatercept for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), having reported positive topline results of the PULSAR Phase 2 trial. The Company is currently planning multiple Phase 3 trials with the potential to support its long-term vision of establishing sotatercept as a backbone therapy for patients with PAH at all stages of the disease. Acceleron is also investigating the potential of its early-stage pulmonary candidate, ACE-1334, which it plans to advance into a Phase 1b/2 trial in systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) this year.
In hematology, REBLOZYL® (luspatercept-aamt) is the first and only approved erythroid maturation agent approved in the United States, Europe, and Canada for the treatment of anemia in certain blood disorders. REBLOZYL® is part of a global collaboration partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb. The Companies co-promote REBLOZYL® in the United States and are also developing luspatercept for the treatment of anemia in patient populations of myelodysplastic syndromes, beta-thalassemia, and myelofibrosis.
Aifred Health Named Top 3 Finalist in Global IBM Watson AI XPRIZE Competition
MONTREAL, Feb. 16, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - Aifred Health announced today that the XPRIZE jury has selected Aifred Health as one of the 3 finalists for the IBM Watson AI XPRIZE. The company is competing for the grand prize of US$3.0 million which will be awarded in June, 2021, with 2nd and 3rd prize winners receiving US$1.0 million and US$0.5 million respectively.
Montreal-based Aifred Health was one of more than 700 applicants for this XPRIZE focused on employing AI to solve the world's grand challenges. Teams were judged by world-leading experts in AI who conducted extensive due diligence and reviews of each team's application and their ability to meet the key criteria of achieved technical impact; evidenced real-world impact; scalability of real-world impact; and ethics and safety.
"To be named as one of the Top 3 global AI teams in the world is an incredible accomplishment and endorsement of our approach to better serving patients suffering from debilitating depression. Over the last 4 years, our AI technology and tools have been reviewed and validated by some of the best AI and subject matter talent on the planet. We are indebted to the XPRIZE organization and IBM Watson for their leadership and vision throughout the process. The prize money, along with our C$4 million seed financing that closed in December 2020, is being used to fund the clinical trial required to attain US FDA and Health Canada approval for our AI decision support device for depression and will also permit us to further develop our therapy-agnostic AI tool in other areas of high unmet medical need", declared Marina Massingham, CEO.
Dr. David Benrimoh, Chief Scientific Officer added: "We began Aifred Health because of the IBM Watson AI XPRIZE and our belief that modern AI tools could be developed and applied to identify patterns in clinical data that would allow the use of simple personal information to choose the right treatment for each individual patient. I want to thank all of the incredibly talented people who have worked with and supported us as employees, students, investigators, advisors, investors, physicians, and patients for their contributions to creating and building Aifred."
About Aifred Health
Aifred Health, a Montreal based healthcare technology company, is delivering clinician-focused solutions for the treatment of mental health including electronic access to best practices guidelines and a world-class AI approach to providing decision support for personalized therapeutic choices for clinical depression. Aifred is initiating its regulatory approval clinical trial for decision support for therapeutic treatment choice for depression in H1/2021. For more information, please see www.aifredhealth.com.
SOURCE Aifred Health Inc.
Fastest Growing EMR Provider MEDFAR Raises Nearly $25 Million Investment Led by Walter Capital Partners
MONTREAL, Feb. 16, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - MEDFAR Clinical Solutions, the leading pure-play Electronic Medical Record (EMR) provider in Canada, announced today a minority investment of nearly $25 million led by Walter Capital Partners. MEDFAR will dedicate the funds to accelerate its expansion, innovation and acquisition agendas in North America.
"We are excited to join forces with Walter Capital Partners," said Elias Farah, CEO of MEDFAR Clinical Solutions. "We look forward to fulfilling our objective of increasing our momentum and completing bolt-on EMR provider acquisitions at a sustained pace with Walter Capital's strong and talented team." MEDFAR has rapidly evolved MYLE (Make Your Life Easy) from an EMR to a complete Care Management Solution, including a virtual care platform that fosters patient engagement. "We have also expanded our footprint throughout Canada with 2 acquisitions within 18 months," added M. Farah.
"We share Elias' vision of innovation serving client success in healthcare clinics," said Éric Phaneuf, President and CEO of Walter Capital Partners. "We partner with strong management teams possessing deep sector understanding and we know that MEDFAR has all the ingredients to become a leading player globally. We are especially impressed by MEDFAR's resilience and agility in adapting to the pandemic and rising to the challenge of better serving their users with fast-paced virtual health advances in unprecedented circumstances."
Mr. Phaneuf will join MEDFAR's board of directors. MEDFAR serves nearly 7,000 physicians delivering 10 million consultations annually in Canada. In 2020 only, nearly 400 clinics in Canada deployed MEDFAR solutions, most of them switching from a competing EMR to MYLE.
About MEDFAR
Founded in 2010 by two aeronautical engineers, MEDFAR Clinical Solutions was the first to certify a fully web-based EMR solution in Canada. With the support of experts from its medical and clinical advisory board, the MEDFAR team evolved its solution, MYLE (for Make Your Life Easy), from a simple EMR to a powerful end-to-end Care Management Solution that streamlines each and every clinical process, freeing caregivers from the burden of administrative tasks and helping them achieve more. MEDFAR grew to become the preeminent pure-play EMR solution provider in Canada with a growing presence in international markets. MEDFAR is relentlessly committed to its mission of driving excellence and efficiency in healthcare across the world. www.medfarsolutions.com
About Walter Capital Partners
Walter Capital Partners is a private equity firm part of Walter Financial, the investment unit of the Walter Group. Its investment model combines capital inflow and operating expertise to support the growth of promising companies on solid and sustainable foundations, by drawing on the entrepreneurial background of the Walter Group and the extensive business leadership experience of its managing partners. Headquartered in Montréal, Walter Capital provides a solid international network. www.waltercapital.ca
Over the weekend I had the opportunity to be interviewed for a podcast. The episode is live on all channels (Spotify and Apple) as well as YouTube so I hope that you have a chance to check it out!
Happy Valentines Day!
xoxoox
Episode 24 - The Train It Right Life - Self Love
Alicia Bell IFBB Figure Pro is back with another episode of the podcast about self love, fuck boys and online coaching! What a better time to return with some podcast love then Valentines Day Weekend!
Alicia Bell IFBB Figure Pro - Paige of Swords Podcast Feb 2021
Check Out My Most Recent Podcast Interview!
I had a great time on this podcast! Check it out if you want to learn a bit more about me and my journey and whats going on as far as prep for me right now!
10 Ways To Eat Healthy In 2021
Alicia Bell IFBB Figure Pro
This week I am dishing about Eating Healthy. With over 12 years experience in Personal Training, Kinesiology, Precision Nutrition and Athletics Coaching. I have learned what works and what doesn't. I have picked up some truths and strategies along the way that I implement with my own practices as well as my recommendations for my clients. Here are my top ten healthy eating tips for 2016. These ten strategies will help you eat healthier and stay on track so that you will succeed in achieving your goals.
Sweat More
When you workout hard and you lots of time in at the gym you are more likely to want to eat healthy. When you sweat your body rids itself of toxins. One of the most common things I hear from my clients is “I just worked my butt off in the gym for hours, why would I want to eat crap now and cancel out all of my results.” There couldn't be more truth to this. Why waste all of your hard earned sweat on a cheat food that you will probably regret afterwards? Most people find it isn't worth it.
The 10 Gulp Rule
I always suggest drinking a minimum of 3-4L of water for many reasons. Some of these reasons include speeding up your metabolism, riding the body of toxins and hydration. A lot of times we mistaken thirst and hunger believe it or not. So instead of reaching for a quick snack reach for a bottle of water first. But when you do remember this rule: The 10 Gulp Rule. When you pick up your bottle always gulp down 10 times. This will help you get in all of that water that I suggest.
Keep A Food Journal
It doesn't matter if you use an organizer, food planner or even a notepad or an app such as Myfitnesspal, I recommend that you track your food. Food journaling helps you realize just exactly what you are eating, the type of food it is, how many calories and where you can improve. It is also a great way to see how your body reacts to certain foods, meal timing and your energy levels compared to what you are eating. If you like journaling vs an app. Try Fitbook.
Eat Slowly
Did you know that a lot of our digestion actually begins in the mouth? When you don't properly chew your food you may be missing out on key nutrients that might not get extracted further on in your digestive system. Also it has been proven that when you chew your food slowly you are less likely to overeat because it allows your body time to send the signal that your stomach is full to your brain. When you chomp down an entire meal quickly your stomach doesn't send the signal to the brain in time and then it is too late and you have already overate.
Sign Up For A Meal Delivery
You “don’t have time” is honestly often times a legitimate excuse. More and more we are purchasing food. I personally have a hard time between work, coaching, training myself and content creating to cook food so I now rely on a meal delivery service to help keep me on track. Not only is the food delicious but it is customized and also delivered fresh to my door.
Make Overnight Oats So That You Always Have Breakfast Available
A lot of my clients are in a rush for breakfast and often skip it. Be prepared and pre make your breakfast. One of my favorite go to breakfasts are overnight oats. It's a simple grab and go if you prepare it the night before. Go here and check out some great recipe options from eatthis.com.
Eat By Using Proper Serving Sizes
Without meaning to we tend to undereat, over eat or binge. Precision Nutrition gives us a great guide to go by while we are on the go that is simple, always on us and easy to measure. What could this be you ask? Your hands. Yep you read that right. Follow this PN Guide to forgetting calorie counting and simply using your had to measure the amount of food you should be eating.
Make Mug Cake When You Are Craving Something Sweet
One of the best ways to satisfy a sweet craving or if you are particularly craving some sort of cakey substance is curbing your appetite with a mug cake. A protein mug cake that is. I usually find my recipes on pinterest but if you don't have pinterest you can get a lot of yummy mug cake recipes from dailyburn.com.
More Greens
Don’t be afraid to make friends with salad. The more greens you have the better. Not only do greens have loads of health benefits, give you energy but they also take a lot of energy for your body to digest. It's basically a win from all angles. However if you simply can't chew down loads of leafs supplement with products like Greens+ to make sure that you are getting all of your servings that you should be having so that you can maximize the health benefits, have energy and keep your diet healthy.
Have Protein In Your Gym Bag For A Post Workout Shake
When I am on the go I always keep a plastic baggie with a scoop of my favorite protein with me. This way I can quickly mix it up with water and I don’t have to eat take out or even cheat on my healthy diet. I love HD MUSCLE and you can use my CODE: Trainitright to save 10%
Make 2021 the year that you eat healthy, stick to your plan and achieve your goals. I know that these tips will help you just as they have helped both myself and countless clients and athletes that have worked with me over the years. Make it a habit not phase and Train It Right.
Gyms are opening again in my area! I hope yours is the same! With that being said I have a few items that I have on my radar for when gyms open up on the 16th that I want to add to my gym bag and I wanted to share them with you!
PINK ankle weights!
2. Digital Jump Rope
3. Stretch Strap
4. Vibrating Massage Ball
5. Spin Bike
The first four items are for the gym bag and I wanted to include the last item on my wish list for home because time spots are limited for gyms in my area. 10 people per slot. So to maximize time in the gym having a few options for at home cardio may be great during this time. I use to have a spin bike before I moved to my new house however now I just have a treadmill and my next cardio at home will be another spin bike because I love the bike it is such a great workout! You dont need a peloton (they are expensive) you can just get a good quality at home bike and download a spin app or look up a good class on YouTube to follow if you dont want to control the ride yourself!
Anyway I hope you like the ideas for the gym! And Im so happy we survived another lockdown!
Stay happy and healthy and remember if you need training, diet and supplement advice I am taking on 1 on 1 clients now!
