The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced a conviction obtained in federal court of an employee of a medical device manufacturer who was charged with forging documents that purported that his employer had obtained clearance for two medical devices. Peter Stoll III, who was employed by Aesculap Inc., of Center Valley, Pa., will serve 12 months in prison and a year of supervised release in one of the most egregious examples of fraudulent med tech behavior in recent memory.
Final rules the U.S. SEC adopted Jan. 24 to beef up disclosure requirements and investor protection in initial public offerings by special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) and de-SPAC transactions could be the death knell for the SPAC market. They also could open the door for the SEC to regulate companies like biopharma and med-tech startups as investment companies.
What’s the status of the U.S. FTC’s investigation into pharmacy benefit managers’ (PBMs) role in prescription drug prices? Inquiring minds in the Senate really want to know, especially since the investigation began more than 18 months ago. “We urge the FTC to complete its 6(b) study in a timely manner,” 14 senators, led by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), wrote in a Jan. 22 letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan.
Quality-of-life claims in a TV ad for breast cancer drug Kisqali (ribociclib) earned Novartis AG the first untitled letter of 2024 from the U.S. FDA’s Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP).
Carl Zeiss Meditec AG recently received U.S. FDA clearance for the latest generation of its femtosecond laser, the Visumax 800, with its Smile pro software, for surgically treating nearsightedness, with or without astigmatism.
The ongoing controversy over patent subject matter eligibility gained new momentum via a Jan. 23 U.S. Senate hearing, during which a bipartisan pair of senators once again pushed the argument that current jurisprudence for subject matter eligibility is hampering U.S. life science companies.
The U.S. FDA has granted Mesoblast Ltd.’s allogeneic cell therapy Revascor (rexlemestrocel-L) rare pediatric disease designation following submission of results from a clinical trial in children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a potentially life-threatening congenital heart condition.
The U.S. FDA issued a complete response letter to Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories Ltd.’s U.S. subsidiary, Satsuma Pharmaceuticals Inc., for its NDA for dihydroergotamine nasal powder (STS-101) for acute treatment of migraine, with or without aura, in adults. Shin Nippon acquired Satsuma for $220 million in April 2023 and gained rights to STS-101.
Legislation passed in the U.S. Congress in 2013 called upon the federal government to dispense with the Federal Helium Reserve by September 2021, a deadline that some stakeholders are grateful to see has passed without action.
With little fanfare, the Biden administration dropped its appeal Jan. 16 of a recent court decision that vacated a 2021 U.S. Health and Human Services rule permitting health insurance issuers and group health plans to use so-called copay accumulator adjustment programs that prevent drug manufacturers’ copay assistance from counting toward a patient’s deductible or out-of-pocket maximum.
RSS
