The U.S. FDA issued Astellas Pharma Inc. a complete response letter for its BLA for zolbetuximab, citing unresolved deficiencies following its pre-license inspection of a third-party manufacturing facility for claudin 18.2-targeting drug, which was recently listed in the 2024 edition of Clarivate’s Drugs to Watch.
With its approval Jan. 5 of Florida’s drug importation program, the U.S. FDA ended a 23-year wait for the government to implement a 2000 provision allowing certain prescription drug imports from Canada.
Are there other guidances the U.S. FDA should release as final without going through the draft and public comment process first? That’s one of the questions the FDA wants stakeholders to comment on as it updates its best practices for guidance.
An FDA culture that discourages scientific disagreement with U.S. administration policies may be a perennial problem regardless of the party in power. That’s one of the between-the-lines takeaways from a Jan. 3 letter the Republican leadership of the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf – along with a stern warning that the agency had better respond in a timely manner.
One of the latest state laws impacting prescription drug prices is a per se unconstitutional taking, a U.S. district judge said last week, but he refused to grant a preliminary injunction to shield manufacturers from the effects of Colorado’s new law while Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.’s constitutional challenge moves through the courts.
Shares of Corcept Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:CORT) fell 26% Jan. 2 on news that a U.S. court determined that Teva Pharmaceuticals Ltd. does not infringe on patents related to use of cortisol receptor blocker Korlym (mifepristone) in Cushing’s syndrome, opening the possibility of Teva’s generic version to enter the market.
Six months out from the World Health Organization ending the global health emergency brought on by the pandemic, there’s no need for the World Trade Organization to expand a five-year intellectual property (IP) waiver for vaccines to COVID-19-related drugs, devices and diagnostics.
Of all that happened in 2023, Medicare price negotiations probably top the list as the biggest U.S. biopharma disruptor. Although Congress cleared the way for the negotiations last year when it passed the partisan Inflation Reduction Act, they weren’t fleshed out until this year when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued guidance detailing the rules of the negotiating road. And as usual, the devil is in the details.
In keeping with a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will not implement a final rule removing the anti-kickback safe harbor for the rebates drug companies pay pharmacy benefit managers until Jan. 1, 2032.
In his latest effort to boost the U.S. manufacturing base, President Joe Biden is invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA) to expand the domestic production capabilities for essential medicines, medical countermeasures (MCMs) and their critical inputs.