In case you missed it: News bites for the week.
Ojas Mahapatra and Chris Stoelhorst.
New Zealand-headquartered medical device company Mars Bioimaging has gained United States Food and Drug Administration clearance for its portable photon-counting CT scanner for upper-extremity imaging.
Designed for use in community and point-of-care settings, the ‘Extremity Scanner System’ delivers premium, high-resolution 3D X-ray images that visualise soft tissue, bone, blood vessels, and metallic implants with clear material differentiation.
Mars Bioimaging chair Chris Stoelhorst said the FDA clearance allowed the company to scale clinical adoption of its scanners in the US market, which is the world’s largest.
“This milestone supports our mission to enhance health economics and equity by expanding access to premium photon-counting CT imaging in community-based settings.”
Mars CEO Ojas Mahapatra also said the clearance “provides important validation that supports regulatory pathways and market adoption globally”.
Mars closed a $15 million Series A round in January this year.
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden is standing down from politics at this year’s election.
The Act Party deputy leader said quitting politics would allow her to explore opportunities in the private sector.
Van Velden said by the time of the election, she would have spent nine years in public service, first working with Act leader David Seymour to secure passage of the End of Life Choice Bill through Parliament and then six years as an MP.
“I have never intended to be a career politician, and while I believe there are so many more years I could serve my community, I wish to explore the private sector too. At some point in the future, I would like to return to public service,” she said.
AgriZero has invested US$3 million (NZ$5.1m) in Rumin8 to help speed up development of its methane-reducing products for cattle and bring them to New Zealand. Rumin8 is headquartered in Australia and uses a compound which reduces methane emissions in livestock. Trials with beef cattle have shown an average 82% methane reduction after consuming Rumin8’s feed additive, along with indications of up to 5% productivity gains. Rumin8 founder and CEO David Messina said the investment had brought forward its focus on New Zealand by several years. “We’re now planning animal trials in New Zealand this year to support our application for regulatory approval. These trials will test the safety of the feed additive as well as its effectiveness in local conditions.” Rumin8 is the twelfth venture investment by AgriZeroNZ, which is a world-first public-private partnership set up in 2023 with funding of $191m over four years to accelerate the development of tools to help farmers reduce emissions.
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