Pear Therapeutics Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection under chapter 11 to buy time to sell its assets. The company was the first-to-market for prescription digital therapies, with three PDTs gaining regulatory nods from the FDA: Reset for substance use disorder, Reset-O for opioid use disorder and Somryst for insomnia. Reset-A received breakthrough device designation in 2021. The Reset therapies are approved for use in conjunction with medication therapy or other outpatient therapy for substance use.
Hundreds of executives from biopharma companies are signing onto an April 10 letter decrying a U.S. district judge’s decision last week to stay the FDA approval of mifepristone, which is used in more than half of all abortions in the U.S.
Batteries used in medical devices don’t always perform as expected, but Abbott Laboratories has issued an advisory to users of its Freestyle glucose monitoring systems in connection with overheating of the batteries used in the device’s readers, a problem the company said is not related to the batteries themselves. Abbott Park, Ill.-based Abbott has received reports of battery swelling and overheating in the reader unit, but advised users that use of non-Abbott charging cables seems to drive the risk of such episodes, urging users to stick with the USB charging cables that came with the readers.
The long-running Makena saga came to a close April 6 with the U.S. FDA announcing its decision to immediately withdraw approval of the drug and its generics – the only drugs indicated in the U.S. to reduce the risk of preterm birth.
The Biden administration has released the National Cancer Plan, a framework that expands and builds on the Cancer Moonshot program which came into being in 2016. The National Cancer Plan includes a strategies section that calls for development of new methods for detecting cancer and new imaging technologies for early cancer detection, just two provisions that would seem to portend good times ahead for companies that manufacture these products.
As the number of drug shortages continues to grow in the U.S. and globally, the FDA is issuing a draft guidance spelling out drug and API manufacturers’ responsibility to give the agency a timely, informative heads-up about changes in their production that could lead to a shortage.
Positive results from Limflow SA’s PROMISE II U.S. pivotal trial show its Limflow system for transcatheter arterialization of deep veins (TADV) led to sustained amputation-free survival and wound healing in patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI), a severe form of peripheral artery disease. According to the Paris-based company, 76% of CLTI patients who received Limflow therapy were able to avoid an otherwise life-saving major amputation.
The granting of breakthrough device designation from the U.S. FDA to Pixium Vision SA for its Prima system was a boon for the company as its share price jumped more than 300% following the news. The price increase was “validation from the public market and investors” that the Prima system, for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), has the potential to get regulatory approval, Lloyd Diamond, CEO of Pixium, told BioWorld.
The U.S. NIH once again faces questions about its oversight of certain research. In the latest round, the U.S. Government Accountability Office called on the agency to do more to ensure that foreign facilities conducting NIH-funded animal research are compliant with U.S. standards and policy regarding animal care and use, as well as international standards.
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