AWS TO OPEN DATA CENTERS IN UAE

Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com company, plans to open an infrastructure region in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the first half of 2022.

The new AWS Middle East (UAE) Region will consist of three Availability Zones and will become AWS's second region in the Middle East with the existing AWS Region in Bahrain.

The initiative aims to give customers more choice and flexibility to leverage technologies from the new cloud infrastructure, allowing customers to run workloads and store data locally while serving end-users. The expansion is part of AWS's aims to build on its current 80 Availability Zones globally across 25 geographic regions.

“We are excited to build on the great momentum of cloud adoption in the Middle East by providing more choice for customers in the UAE to run applications and store data locally,” said Peter DeSantis, senior vice president of Global Infrastructure, AWS. “The new AWS Region supports the UAE’s focus on promoting technology innovation that has made it a thriving global hub for entrepreneurs, e-governments, and multi-national businesses. With the new region, organisations of all sizes will be able to innovate faster and serve end-users with even lower latency across the region.”

IBEX OBTAINS CE MARK FOR AI-POWERED BREAST CANCER DETECTION

Israel-based AI-powered cancer diagnostics company Ibex Medical Analytics has obtained a CE Mark for its Galen Breast solution used for supporting pathologists in the detection of breast cancer.

The CE Mark follows results from a blinded, multi-site clinical study at Institut Curie in France and Maccabi Healthcare Services in Israel. Galen Breast demonstrated high accuracy in detecting various types of breast cancer, including invasive and in-situ cancers, distinguishing between different types of invasive cancer and grading of DCIS lesions.

The solution is now available as Ibex partners with laboratories, hospitals and health systems to implement artificial intelligence (AI) technology into the diagnostic workflow. Galen Breast has already been ordered by multiple labs, including a network-wide deployment at a leading pathology group in Europe.

TELEPHONY PROVIDER DEPLOYED ACROSS LONDON AND MANCHESTER

UK-based cloud telephony specialist X-on has completed two deployments of its Surgery Connect cloud-telephony system, extending take-up to a further 120 general practices in London and Greater Manchester. 

Eighty GP practices within North Central London Clinical Commissioning Group’s catchment, about 40 percent of all the catchment practices, have opted for the product to enhance their practice-patient communications, and in Stockport, Greater Manchester, all the area’s 36 practices have now moved to Surgery Connect. 

An additional estimated one million patients are now supported by X-on’s Surgery Connect product following the deployments, which have been completed during the pandemic.

In total, an estimated 8.5 million patients are now served by 835 practices in England and Wales using Surgery Connect. 

INTERSYSTEMS AND ONCODESIGN PARTNER TO ACCELERATE DRUG DISCOVERY

US-based healthcare data management company, InterSystems and France-based biopharmaceutical company, Oncodesign have announced their strategic partnership aimed at advancing research for new treatments in the field of oncology.  

As part of this partnership, Oncodesign has chosen to combine its proprietary platform for the identification and validation of new therapeutic targets, called OncoSNIPER, with InterSystems' unified health data management platform, known as InterSystems IRIS for Health. 

The InterSystems IRIS for Health data platform will be integrated into Oncodesign's recently established Artificial Intelligence (AI) Business Unit for the storage and management of preclinical and clinical data sources, which are involved in the drug discovery process.

By analysing the data consolidated through InterSystems IRIS for Health, Oncodesign's AI BU aims to optimise the development of OncoSNIPER, through more accurate functioning of its algorithms.

In addition, InterSystems will provide Oncodesign with the benefit of its international network of strategic academic partners generating health data in North America.

ECONSULT HEALTH ACQUIRES Q DOCTOR

UK-based digital triage provider eConsult has acquired video consultation and SMS platform Q doctor, combining online triage, video, telephony and SMS in one joined-up solution for GP surgeries and hospitals.

The acquisition of Q doctor is the latest step in eConsult’s expansion, having secured a £7 million investment from Gresham House Ventures and Calculus Capital in October 2020 to enter into the secondary care market. 

eConsult allows patients to submit their symptoms or requests to their own GP electronically and offers NHS self-help information, signposting to services, and a symptom checker.

eConsult is used by 3,330 GP surgeries and has been used to complete over 13 million online consultations. Its eTriage platform, purpose-built for emergency care is currently in use at nine hospitals including Worthing & St Richards in Western Sussex.