Eli Lilly and Co. has withdrawn a filing for its COVID-19 antibody cocktail in Europe after health authorities backed rivals – the day after a $1.29 billion purchase of the same medicines from the U.S. government. Indianapolis-based Lilly began filing data from the combination of bamlanivimab and etesevimab in March to enable a fast authorization by the European Medicines Agency.
With the U.S. biosimilar pathway clearly developed, industry and the FDA are turning their attention to interchangeables in the third iteration of the biosimilar user fee agreement (BsUFA).
In a move that had been expected, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices unanimously recommended the Pfizer Inc.-Biontech SE COVID-19 vaccine as safe and beneficial for children ages 5 through 11. The recommendation, coming from a 14-0 vote, is the committee’s way of reassuring the American public that the vaccine is safe, according to committee member Beth Bell, clinical professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Achieve, Akeso, Amylyx, Antengene, Biotheryx, Boehringer, Eli Lilly, GC, Geneventiv, Ikena, Janssen, Landos, Legend, Nova Mentis, Novan, Tryp.
A former sales rep for Cambridge, Mass.-based Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc. was sentenced Oct. 28 to 54 months in prison and three years of supervised release for a scheme to defraud insurance companies and boost his bonuses for sales of Aegerion’s cholesterol drug, Juxtapid (lomitapide).
Biopharma scored a victory of sorts in the ongoing 340B war that’s pitting drug companies against the combined forces of hospital groups, contract pharmacies and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
An ongoing evaluation of heart muscle inflammation risk, a key concern with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines globally, could delay through January 2022 completion of an FDA review of Moderna Inc.'s vaccine in adolescents 12 to 17 years of age. The side effect, called myocarditis, has been a particular concern with regulators, especially for adolescents and young men.
Abbvie Inc.’s FDA clearance of Vuity (pilocarpine HCl ophthalmic solution) 1.25% for the treatment of presbyopia in adults, could bring relief to about 128 million Americans: almost half of the U.S. population, the company said. It’s the first and only eye drop given U.S. regulators’ go-ahead for what’s known as age-related blurry near vision – but plenty more have generated clinical data.
With the FDA approval of Scemblix (asciminib), a STAMP inhibitor for treating chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in adults, Novartis AG has a companion to its longstanding therapy Gleevec (imatinib) as a treatment for the indication.