The U.S. FDA approved 18 drugs in November, down from 20 in October, bringing the total number of clearances to 199 through the first 11 months of the year. The number is about 5% lower than the 209 approvals recorded over the same period in 2024 but more than every prior year.
The Trump administration has made known that it intends to foster rapid adoption of AI, starting with a repeal of an executive order (EO) issued by the Biden administration. Now, the White House has issued an EO that would override state AI law, a move that addresses a task that Congress to date has failed to complete.
Cartography Biosciences Inc. has received IND approval from the FDA for CBI-1214, a T-cell engager being developed for the treatment of colorectal cancer.
Viatris Inc. has announced FDA clearance of its IND application for MR-146, an Enriched Tear Film (ETF) AAV gene therapy candidate for the treatment of neurotrophic keratopathy. The company plans to initiate a phase I/II trial in patients with neurotrophic keratopathy in the first half of next year.
The FDA’s final guidance for the use of real-world evidence (RWE) was touted by FDA commissioner Marty Makary as opening the door to the use of existing de-identified data in premarket device submissions, but the final guidance lends also clarifies a couple of points about when an investigational device exemption will be needed for RWE studies.
Rona Therapeutics Co. Ltd. has announced the submission of RN-5681 to the Australian Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC), and anticipates dosing to begin in a phase I trial in the first quarter of next year.
Zelluna ASA has submitted a clinical trial application (CTA) to the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for ZI-MA4-1 (ZIMA-101), the company’s lead candidate. ZI-MA4-1 is a novel MAGE-A4-targeting T-cell receptor-natural killer (TCR-NK) therapy.
The U.S. FDA announced Dec. 15 that it will take a more relaxed approach regarding the use of real-world evidence (RWE) in drug and device application reviews. Specifically, new guidance for device premarket applications will not require identifiable individual patient data collected from real-world data sources, and the agency indicated it intends to consider similarly updating guidance regarding submissions for drugs and biologics.
The U.S. CDC has adopted the recommendations of its Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) regarding the hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine scheduling for infants, determining that immunization should be an individual-based decision rather than the universal birth dosing practice that has been in place for the past 30 years.
The European Union’s struggles with regulations for devices and in vitro diagnostics seem virtually endless, but the European Commission floated a series of changes that would present a significant reset of both regulations. One of the more sweeping changes would be to exempt medical technologies from much of the text of the Artificial Intelligence Act, a move that would ease the drag on AI-based technologies in the EU.