The COVID-19 pandemic took a huge bite out of the U.S. FDA’s ability to conduct inspections in a timely manner, but the FDA’s Douglas Stearn said the agency has nonetheless ramped up these activities.
Intuitive Ventures, the investment arm of Intuitive Surgical Inc., closed a $150 million fundraising round for its second fund, which will focus on investments in startups in three areas: precision diagnostics and interventions, digital ecosystems and improving health care access and coordination. Intuitive Surgical’s first venture fund raised $100 million that has been used to support more than 10 early-stage companies.
The U.S. FDA’s draft rule for regulation of lab-developed tests (LDTs) was accorded a mere 60 days for comment, but nonetheless drew support from a number of stakeholders, including Foundation Medicine of Cambridge, Mass.
The U.S. FDA’s advisory hearing on multi-cancer detection (MCD) tests suggests that the premarket requirements for these tests will be rigorous, if only because the agency stated at the outset of the hearing that it sees these tests as class III devices. However, the advisory committee also suggested that a registry be established to track outcomes for these tests, a requirement that is likely to prove expensive and time-consuming to fulfill.
Eli Lilly and Co., through its Loxo@Lilly oncology unit, secured its second accelerated approval for non-covalent Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor Jaypirca (pirtobrutinib), this time to treat adults with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma. The U.S. FDA approval of 100-mg and 50-mg tablets is for patients who have received two prior lines of therapy, including another BTK inhibitor and a BCL-2 inhibitor. It is based on phase I/II data from a subset of 108 patients participating in the open-label, single-arm, multi-cohort Bruin trial.
The U.S. FDA opted not to pursue one form of medical device harmonization via the Global Harmonization Working Party (GHWP), as it reported it will withdraw from the organization.
The U.S. FDA put out a safety warning Nov. 28 that antiseizure drugs levetiracetam and clobazam can cause a rare but serious hypersensitivity drug reaction that may start as a rash but can progress to injure internal organs. In addition, U.K. health care providers are being told to get a plan in place now to implement the first phase of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s new regulatory measures to reduce the risks of valproate, a treatment for epilepsy and bipolar disorder.
Philips Respironics Inc.’s nightmares with its Dreamstation continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) line of products continued with a fresh warning from the U.S. FDA of reports involving thermal issues with a newer iteration of the machine, some of which cited patient injuries.
Brainspec Inc. received U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance for use of its artificial intelligence platform, Brainspec Core, in noninvasive measurement of brain chemistry using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS).
“The FDA approval to begin the Bivacor Total Artificial Heart EFS is a critical milestone for Bivacor and is another validation of the remarkable work and accomplishments of the entire Bivacor team. This device will provide a unique approach to help patients currently with limited clinical options,” said William Cohn, heart surgeon at the Texas Heart Institute and Bivacor chief medical officer.
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