Amid pressure to get a COVID-19 vaccine authorized for infants and toddlers sooner than later, Pfizer Inc. and Biontech SE initiated a rolling submission seeking to amend the U.S. FDA’s emergency use authorization for their mRNA vaccine to include children 6 months through 4 years of age.
More than a year into U.S. President Joe Biden’s four-year term, the FDA commissioner seat remains open. While Robert Califf secured a critical endorsement Jan. 31 in his quest for a second term in the post, his hope for a sequel may still be up in the air.
As part of a settlement in a class action suit, Vyera Pharmaceuticals LLC and its parent company, Phoenixus AG, of Baar, Switzerland, agreed last week to pay up to $28 million to a proposed class of third-party payers that covered Daraprim (pyrimethamine).
U.S. FDA regulation of combination products has always been complicated, and a new final guidance takes up the long-standing controversy over FDA review of these applications. The final guidance makes explicit the possibility that the individual components of a cross-labeled combination product will be reviewed separately, a concession that industry saw as critical to ensure that these applications can make it through the FDA gauntlet without undue delay.
While comments continue to pour in, both in opposition and support, regarding the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed national coverage decision that would restrict Medicare coverage of monoclonal antibodies intended to treat Alzheimer’s to those used in CMS- or NIH-approved clinical trials, some groups also are appealing to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to step into an HHS agency turf war.
Moderna Inc. reached a milestone of sorts Jan. 31 as the U.S. FDA fully approved its COVID-19 vaccine, Spikevax (elasomeran), for use in adults. Meanwhile, the Moderna and Pfizer Inc.-Biontech SE vaccines are in the sights of the U.S. Congressional Progressive Caucus, which is pushing the Biden administration to do more to ensure global vaccination.
After showing power in its frequency of dosing and efficacy, Vabysmo (faricimab) has been approved by the FDA for treating wet, or neovascular, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema. The bispecific monoclonal antibody was developed by Roche Holding AG units, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Genentech Inc.
In keeping with its Drug Competition Action Plan released in 2017, the U.S. FDA finalized two guidances this week focused on the submission and review of generic drugs.
The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) reported Jan. 26 that it will investigate whether Alvotech Hf and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. misappropriated trade secrets when developing a potential interchangeable biosimilar to Abbvie Inc.’s mega-blockbuster, Humira (adalimumab).
With COVID-19 taking a toll on the U.S. FDA’s inspection program, warning letters stemming from drug facility inspections have been few and far between for the past two years. Aurobindo Pharmaceutical Ltd., of Hyderabad, India, was one of the exceptions.
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