TOKYO – Japan’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Device Agency (PMDA) is refocusing its efforts to strengthen ties with Asian counterparts as COVID-19 and market trends show a clear need for faster drug development, approval and accommodation for ailments more common in the region.
Market pressure for M&As in the life sciences sector and the U.S. government’s determination to crack down on anything that smells of antitrust could be on a collision course this year that’s likely to result in injunctions and a lot more litigation.
Nearly two years after Gilead Sciences Inc. spent $4.9 billion to buy Forty Seven Inc. and its lead candidate, magrolimab, the FDA clamped a partial clinical hold on five of Gilead’s clinical trials combining the therapy with azacitidine. The cause, according to Gilead’s management, is “an apparent imbalance in investigator-reported suspected unexpected serious adverse reactions between study arms.” The company said it has not identified a clear trend in the adverse reactions or new safety signals.
Touting a series of firsts and a premium price tag to match, Immunocore Holdings plc is poised to launch the uveal melanoma drug tebentafusp in the U.S. following FDA approval for the medicine. The regulatory nod makes the drug, branded Kimmtrak, the first T-cell receptor-based therapy to reach the market, the first approval for a drug targeting gp100, and the first drug approved in 40 years for the cancer, which is the most common eye cancer in adults, though still rare.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Annovis, Catalyst, Genentech, Imara, Mindmed, Mustang, Nanoscope, Neurophth, Oric, PTC, Senhwa, Snipr, Swanbio.
PERTH, Australia – In preparation for easing COVID-19 restrictions and opening its international borders, Australia has added a new vaccine and two new oral antiviral therapies to its arsenal to fight the omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that is sweeping the globe. Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration granted provisional approval on Jan. 20 to Biocelect Pty Ltd. (on behalf of Novavax Inc.) for its COVID-19 vaccine, Nuvaxovid, as well as two oral antiviral treatments.
PERTH, Australia – In preparation for easing COVID-19 restrictions and opening its international borders, Australia has added a new vaccine and two new oral antiviral therapies to its arsenal to fight the omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that is sweeping the globe. Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration granted provisional approval on Jan. 20 to Biocelect Pty Ltd. (on behalf of Novavax Inc.) for its COVID-19 vaccine, Nuvaxovid, as well as two oral antiviral treatments.
The FDA’s device center has published two guidances dealing with patient engagement in relation to the conduct of clinical trials, including a final guidance for patient input into clinical trial design. The final guidance is mum, however, as to whether consultations with patient representatives constitutes a violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), a predicament the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) said may represent a serious legal hazard for device makers.
Neurometrix Inc. secured breakthrough device designation from the FDA for its Quell technology for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) just six months after receiving the designation for fibromyalgia in July 2021. Quell is a wearable, credit card-sized transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) device worn on the upper calf that delivers self-adjusting, high-power nerve stimulation that disrupts pain signals sent to the brain.
Smith & Nephew plc added new indications for use of its Pico 7 and Pico 14 single-use negative pressure wound therapy (sNPWT) systems. The FDA cleared the London-based device maker’s systems for reducing the incidence of both deep and superficial incisional surgical sites and dehiscence. Smith & Nephew’s Pico 7Y system, which treats two wounds simultaneously, was also cleared to aid in the reduction of the incidence of superficial incisional SSIs for high-risk patients in class I wounds, post-operative seroma and dehiscence.
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