Medicare spending in the U.S. continues to climb at a worrying pace, given that policymakers are apt to respond by putting the squeeze on the doctors and hospitals that purchase and implant medical devices.
Adicet Bio Inc. has obtained FDA clearance of its IND application to evaluate ADI-270, an armored allogeneic λδ CAR T-cell therapy candidate targeting CD70-positive cancers, for the treatment of relapsed or refractory renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
4D Molecular Therapeutics Inc. has obtained IND clearance by the FDA for 4D-175, an R100 vector-based intravitreal genetic medicine, for the treatment of patients with geographic atrophy.
EG 427 SAS has received IND clearance from the FDA for EG-110A, a gene therapy for the treatment of neurogenic detrusor overactivity in patients with spinal cord injury. A phase Ib/IIa study is being initiated.
Roche Holding AG’s Genentech Inc. unit received U.S. FDA approval on June 20 of Piasky (crovalimab) to treat adults and children 13 and older with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria and a body weight of at least 40 kg (88 pounds).
Even though the U.S. FTC recently claimed a court victory in its campaign to shut down the listing of device patents for drugs in the FDA’s Orange Book, 80% of the listings targeted in the commission’s first round of warning letters remain in place more than seven months later.
Argenx SE gained U.S. FDA approval of subcutaneously given Vyvgart Hytrulo (efgartigimod alfa and hyaluronidase-qvfc) for adult patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). The company’s stock (NASDAQ:ARGX) was up 11.7% to $440.59 at the close of trading June 24. About 24,000 people in the U.S. are being treated for CIDP, and patients are generally diagnosed between 40 and 60 years of age.
The recent conviction of Ontrak Inc. CEO Terren Peizer for insider trading was conspicuous on two counts, including that it was the first time such a conviction had been obtained solely for trading conducted under a government-approved insider trading policy. More worrisome for industry, generally, is the case is another example of federal prosecutors’ ever-growing use of data and analytics to root out violations of SEC law. This is a trend that seems destined to grow with advances in artificial intelligence.
The annual U.S. Medicare inpatient rule typically encodes a number of proposed reassignments of procedures between diagnostic-related groups , and the draft rule for fiscal year 2025 proposes several such changes in the area of orthopedic surgeries. The Medical Device Manufacturers Association lauded the proposed changes, arguing that the existing DRG code structure has failed to keep pace with the growing number of procedures for the lumbar spine, not to mention the significant cost differential associated with each.
In May, the U.S. FDA approved 11 new drugs, a significant drop from the 26 approvals in April, which was the sixth-highest monthly total since 2016. This also falls short of March’s record-setting 30 approvals, the highest number recorded by BioWorld.
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