Keeping patients at the center of clinical trials is how the global pharma industry views decentralized clinical trials, but bureaucratic red tape from multiple agencies is preventing companies from deploying decentralized trials in South Korea, speakers said during the BIO Korea 2023 conference in Seoul on May 11.
The U.S. FDA has approved a non-hormonal treatment from Astellas Pharma Inc. to reduce the number and severity of hot flashes. Veozah (fezolinetant), an oral, once-daily compound that targets the neurokinin-3 (NK3) receptor, is approved for treating moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms due to menopause. It’s the first NK3 receptor antagonist the FDA has greenlighted for the indication. The approval came on May 12, well before its May 22 PDUFA date. The PDUFA date was originally set for Feb. 22 but the FDA extended it, saying it needed more time to complete the NDA’s priority review. Veozah’s wholesale acquisition cost is $550 for a month’s supply and should be available by early June.
Hefei Tianhui Incubator of Technologies Co. Ltd. (HTIT)’s NDA for recombinant human insulin capsule ORMD-0801 for type 2 diabetes is under review by the NMPA and, if approved, is expected to be the first oral insulin available in China, where regulators have been on the lookout for new treatment options for the increasingly common disease.
Lianbio Co. Ltd. gained its first Asian approval in Macau for Camzyos (mavacamten/Myokardia Inc.) for treating adults with symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (oHCM). The company in-licensed mavacamten rights from Myokardia, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Bristol Myers Squibb Co., in August 2020 for developing and commercializing mavacamten in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore. Mavacamten was granted breakthrough therapy designation in China in February 2022 for patients with oHCM.
The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) may look like domestic affair, but the drug price controls it is bringing in are set to impact the biopharma sector across the globe.
Ahead of the upcoming G7 summit to be hosted in Japan this month, a delegation of 24 CEOs from the Biopharmaceutical CEOs Roundtable met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to discuss global priorities and to flag concerns over drug pricing policies in Japan.
Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd. has experienced yet another setback with its quizartinib NDA submission, as the U.S. FDA has now extended the review period by three months to July 24, 2023, to allow additional time to review requested updates to the proposed Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies.
Australia’s Department of Health is seeking input from the public on the country’s health technology assessment process that informs decisions about what drugs or devices should be reimbursed and under what circumstances a therapy should be subsidized and at what cost to the taxpayer.
Xian Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd. obtained marketing approval in China for Spravato (esketamine hydrochloride nasal spray) in combination with an oral antidepressant to treat depressive symptoms in adults with major depressive disorder with acute suicidal ideation or behavior. Unlike existing antidepressants on the market, which can take weeks to take effect, the newly approved nasal spray shows effects right away.
While the pandemic is nearing its end, Chinese officials are calling for the development of novel, multivalent COVID-19 vaccines as an essential task moving forward.
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