European regulators have rejected Pfizer Inc.’s tanezumab, casting further doubts on whether the FDA will okay the troubled drug that is intended as a non-opioid alternative for osteoarthritis pain.
As members of the White House COVID-19 Response Team talk about COVID-19 boosters as if they are a fait accompli for Americans even before the FDA completes its evaluation of the data, the controversy continues to roil around the need for another vaccine dose.
The Biden administration’s haste to roll out an eight-month COVID-19 vaccine booster program next week is bumping up against the reality of the data and the regulatory process.
LONDON – The U.K. government has accepted the recommendation of medical experts and will begin the rollout of COVID-19 boosters from next week, using mRNA vaccines only. That follows data from the U.K. Cov-Boost trial, looking at combinations of initial and booster doses. The results showed Pfizer Inc./Biontech SE’s and Moderna Inc.’s products generated the best immune responses, regardless of which vaccine was administered initially.
The Biden administration may have jumped ahead of the FDA review when it announced last month that it planned to roll out COVID-19 boosters by Sept. 20, but that’s not likely to happen when it comes to the timing of vaccines for young children.
LONDON – Conflicting data from around the world on the extent to which the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 is reducing the effectiveness of vaccines is generating uncertainty over the need, or not, for booster programs.
The Biden administration’s plan to roll out COVID-19 boosters by Sept. 20 could get pushed back – pending the outcome of an FDA advisory committee meeting and how quickly the FDA acts on the adcom’s recommendation. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Research and Evaluation, announced Sept. 1 that the agency will convene its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee for a virtual meeting Sept. 17.
In another cautionary tale for JAK inhibitors, the U.S. FDA is requiring updated boxed warnings for three drugs in the class that are approved to treat inflammatory conditions – Pfizer Inc.’s Xeljanz/Xeljanz XR (tofacitinib), Eli Lilly and Co.’s Olumiant (baricitinib) and Abbvie Inc.’s Rinvoq (upadacitinib).
The race to develop better antivirals for COVID-19 is heating up after Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. Inc. pushed ahead with clinical development of late-stage candidates, while Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced encouraging midstage data.
Pfizer Inc. reported on Aug. 30, 2021, that its JAK inhibitor, abrocitinib, beat Dupixent (dupilumab, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc./Sanofi SA) in a head-to-head study of patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis. In the JADE DARE study, a higher percentage of patients taking abrocitinib had a 4-point improvement in the severity of Peak Pruritus Numerical Rating Scale (PP-NRS4) from baseline to week two compared to Dupixent.
