Abbott Laboratories received U.S. FDA approval for an expanded indication for its spinal cord stimulator (SCS) devices to include treatment of chronic back pain for individuals who have not had or are ineligible for back surgery. The FDA based its decision on the positive results from the DISTINCT study which showed that 85.2% of patients implanted with the SCS devices achieved significant reduction in back pain compared to 7.1% of those who received conservative medical management.
On its May 10 PDUFA date, the U.S. FDA approved serotonin-dopamine modulator Rexulti (brexpiprazole) from Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and H. Lundbeck A/S for agitation in Alzheimer’s dementia, marking the first approved treatment for the indication.
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.
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Mim Software, Novarad.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reported that Royal Philips NV will pay more than $62 million in connection with “irregularities in the medical device industry” related to its Chinese subsidiaries. The charges arise from actions that occurred between 2014 and 2019 from sales of medical diagnostic equipment in China.
Quantum Surgical SAS has obtained an extension to the FDA authorization covering its Epione robot, which can now treat abdominal cancers. “This decision now allows physicians to treat all abdominal tumors at an early stage and will ramp implementation of our Epione robotics solution in the U.S.,” said Bertin Nahum, CEO and co-founder of Quantum Surgical. Marketed in Europe and the U.S., the Epione robot has already been used to treat more than 150 patients with liver or kidney cancer.
Nearly a year and a half after Francis Collins stepped down as director of the U.S. NIH, President Joe Biden announced May 15 his intent to nominate Monica Bertagnolli as the next NIH director.
RSS
