An essential tool in precision medicine is companion diagnostics, which are medical devices used to assess critical information about the safety and effectiveness of corresponding drugs or biologic products. However, most conventional companion diagnostics are limited by their inability to test multiple genes or assess a broad range of genomic changes that can inform disease identification and care decisions.
Trace amine-associated receptor 1 (TAAR1) agonists are an emerging drug class in the treatment of schizophrenia. Currently available antipsychotic therapies for schizophrenia act by blocking dopamine D2 receptors, which is associated with an increased risk of metabolic and motor side effects. TAAR1 agonists offer a novel mechanism of action as they act without D2 binding. This Horizon Scan Bulletin provides an early assessment of the evidence on TAAR1 agonists in development for schizophrenia and discusses considerations with regards to their uptake in Canada.
The emergence of new variants of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has raised questions about the accuracy of currently available rapid antigen detection tests (RADTs) for the detection of variants using the currently authorized sampling methods. Six Canadian provinces and 2 international jurisdictions have recommended dual throat and nose swabbing when performing a RADT in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant. The evidence used to support these decisions was not clearly reported.
This report provides an overview of continuous learning artificial intelligence (AI) as a medical device or as part of a medical device, including what they are, how they might be used, their benefits, and the potential challenges and opportunities they pose for regulation, assessment, and evaluation. Continuous learning AI for health care may have a cascading effect on national and international level, including reshaping and shifting the role of regulators and health technology assessment agencies.
Alzheimer disease is a progressive neurologic condition that leads to the decline of cognitive functioning and eventual death. Proposed causes of Alzheimer disease include the amyloid hypothesis, which suggests Alzheimer disease is caused by a buildup of amyloid-beta and tau proteins in the brain, leading to cell death. New diagnostic tools focus on amyloid and tau proteins as potential markers of the disease, and new treatments focus on amyloid and tau formation.
This Horizon Scan summarizes available information regarding tirzepatide for the treatment of high blood glucose associated with Type 2 diabetes. Tirzepatide is a first-in-class dual glucagon-like polypeptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptor agonist currently under development. Tirzepatide demonstrates efficacy in reducing mean glycated hemoglobin (A1C) compared to placebo, semaglutide, insulin degludec, and insulin glargine. Studies investigating the possible effect of tirzepatide on cardiovascular outcomes are currently ongoing.
This Horizon Scan summarizes the available information regarding the emerging technology of liquid biopsy–based multi-cancer early detection tests for cancer screening. This scan focuses specifically on the Galleri (GRAIL Inc.) and CancerSEEK (Exact Sciences) tests, which are further along in the development cycle and are being assessed in different international clinical studies.
The Health Technology Trends to Watch list covers a range of new and emerging non-drug health technologies relevant to different conditions, models of health care delivery, and tools used to improve patient care.
This project aims to: