The U.S. FDA has granted investigational device exemption approval for the use of Personal Genome Diagnostics Inc.’s (PGDx) elio tissue complete assay in a Merck & Co. Inc. trial of a Keytruda (pembrolizumab)-based combination therapy.
BEIJING – China has updated its national reimbursement drug list (NRDL) to include innovative drugs that it has recently approved, including homegrown cancer drugs and foreign imports. Industry experts said they believe it is a move to drive biotech innovation at home.
HONG KONG – Celltrion Healthcare Co. Ltd., a South Korean biopharmaceutical corporation, won European Union (EU) marketing approval for Remsima SC for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), as a subcutaneous version of Celltrion’s infliximab biosimilar, CT-P13.
Shares of San Diego-based Adamis Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NASDAQ:ADMP) fell 51% to close Monday at 62 cents after the FDA issued a complete response letter regarding its high-dose naloxone injection candidate, Zimhi, for the treatment of opioid overdose. The agency raised questions about chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC), but not the candidate's safety or efficacy, the company said.
On its PDUFA date Thursday, the FDA cleared Xcopri (cenobamate) tablets from South Korea’s SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. to treat partial-onset seizures in adults. The drug’s mechanism of action is not fully understood, but it's believed to work through two separate mechanisms: enhancing inhibitory currents through positive modulation of GABA-A receptors and decreasing excitatory currents by inhibiting the persistent sodium current.
Recro Pharma Inc. CEO Geraldine Henwood said the firm, in response to its appeal to the FDA on behalf of I.V. meloxicam for moderate to severe postoperative pain, got a “very lengthy letter” agreeing that safety and efficacy were sufficient for approval but “there was a need to negotiate labeling.”