Although the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act charges the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services with negotiating prices of the Part B and D drugs with the highest Medicare spend, the first two rounds of negotiations will focus solely on Part D drugs, which are dispensed through pharmacies.
Sotera Health Services LLC, the parent company of Sterigenics US LLC, has agreed to pay $408 million to settle more than 870 lawsuits pending against the company in Illinois as a means of moving past the specter of ongoing litigation over Sterigenics’ use of ethylene oxide (EtO) for contract medical device sterilization. The settlement may open the doors to litigation over other sterilization plants’ use of the sterilant, constituting an industry-wide attack on device sterilization services that may crimp supplies of devices that are not candidates for other methods of sterilization.
Proposed mergers with Chinese companies will likely be subject to increased scrutiny from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) as evidenced by the temporary hold placed on the merger between F-star Therapeutics Ltd. and Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd.’s Invox Pharma Ltd. that was announced in June 2022.
Cardiovascular Systems Inc. (CSI) reported the submission by its partner Innova Vascular Inc. of U.S. FDA premarket notification for thrombectomy devices to treat peripheral vascular disease. Already an acknowledge leader in atherectomy technologies, St. Paul, Minn.-based CSI intends to acquire and commercialize each device to expand its technology portfolio to include treatment of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE).
The U.S. FDA has granted Opticyte Inc. a breakthrough device designation for its Cell O2 patient monitor, a noninvasive technology for monitoring patients at risk of organ failure. The device could help to reduce serious illness and deaths by alerting clinicians to patients experiencing organ failure before irreversible damage occurs.
Citing federal preemption, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit tossed multidistrict litigation (MDL) involving GSK plc’s labeling of Zofran, an antiemetic approved for postoperative use and in conjunction with chemo or radiation, but that is commonly used off-label in pregnancy.
As expected, the U.S. FDA gave its go-ahead to lecanemab, an amyloid-beta binder for mild cognitive impairment caused by Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and mild AD from Biogen Inc. and Eisai Co. Ltd, which have assigned to the compound the brand name Leqembi.
The U.S. FDA has granted Datar Cancer Genetics Inc. a breakthrough device designation for Trinetra-Glio, a blood test to help in the diagnosis of brain tumors.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reported an indictment of three men alleged to have filed more than $100 million in genetic testing false claims directly or indirectly with the Medicare program. Two of the three defendants face as many as 65 years of incarceration if convicted, a clear sign that federal government agencies in the U.S. are more intent than ever on cracking down on fraud and abuse of federal health programs.
Imperative Care Inc. received U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance for its Zoom Rdl radial access system for treatment of ischemic strokes. The device is designed to enhance radial access for removal of clots in patients with tortuous anatomy and other challenges to the femoral access typically used, providing more options for both patients and physicians.