PERTH, Australia – Mesoblast Ltd. inked an exclusive global licensing deal with Novartis AG for the development, manufacture and commercialization of Mesoblast’s mesenchymal stromal cell product remestemcel-L, with an initial focus on the acute respiratory distress syndrome, including that associated with COVID-19, just six weeks after the FDA issued a complete response letter for the therapy as a treatment for steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease.

The casual observer may think that physician speaker programs sponsored by makers of drugs and medical devices have drawn less attention from U.S. federal attorneys, but reality has failed to meet that expectation. Mark Gardner, managing attorney of Gardner Law of Stillwater, Minn., said on a Nov. 19 webinar that “there’s a lot coming through right now in terms of settlements,” including a settlement with a drug maker that sent the company into bankruptcy.

Concerns about biopharma executives profiting from stock sales aligned with releases of promising COVID-19 vaccine results could result in Congress requiring a cooling-off period for executives’ 10b5-1 plans that provide a safe harbor to insider trading. Testifying in a Nov. 17 hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, SEC Chair Jay Clayton suggested a mandatory period of four to six months between implementing or materially changing a 10b5-1 plan and the first allowed stock sale. He added that the cooling-off period should at least cover a full quarter.

Many of the developers of in vitro diagnostic tests will seek to convert their emergency use authorizations (EUAs) to conventional premarket filings, and Tim Stenzel, director of the U.S. FDA’s Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health (OIR), said a draft guidance for this conversion is in process. However, Stenzel said he could not predict when that draft might emerge, given that the agency is still scrambling to keep up with both EUA and conventional applications.