Seemingly in response to the release of a proposed rule for ethylene oxide emissions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. FDA has released a second pilot program for device master files for sterilization of medical devices. This program is for single-use PMA devices only made by nine companies and allows the manufacturer or sterilizer to document the switch to radiation sterilization with an expedited review process.
Developers of clinical decision support (CDS) software have their hands full with a recent U.S. FDA final guidance on these products, but the picture promises to become more byzantine with the publication of a draft rule by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC). The new ONC proposal would require a demonstration of transparency for decision support intervention (DSI) predictive functions in order for that software to qualify for ONC certification, a requirement that might not overlap neatly with the FDA’s own transparency requirements.
Danco Laboratories LLC’s abortion pill, Mifeprex (mifepristone), and a generic will remain on the U.S. market with tighter restrictions while a challenge to the drug’s 2000 accelerated approval and the FDA’s subsequent loosening of prescribing requirements plays out on appeal. That is unless the Supreme Court says otherwise.
With a May 29 PDUFA date nearing, the U.S. FDA’s Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee meets April 17 to discuss the merits of Entasis Therapeutics Inc.’s hospital-acquired infection therapy.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Covis, Junshi, Kala, Oncolyze.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a new set of requirements for control of emissions of ethylene oxide (EtO), a standard the agency claims will “slash” emissions by 80% per year. The problem for med-tech trade associations is that EPA expects that the abatements be implemented within 18 months, a pace that industry says is too aggressive and could lead to shortages of critical devices and products used in surgeries and other procedures.
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Avation Medical, Magnolia Medical, Nova Eye Medical.
As an April 15 deadline looms, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is being asked to intervene immediately to keep mifepristone on the U.S. market as an abortion option while legal challenges continue to play out in court.
Briefing documents suggest smooth sailing for Rexulti (brexpiprazole) at the meeting to deliberate an application to expand the label of the compound from Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Lundbeck A/S into agitation related to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia. A joint sit-down on April 14 of the U.S. FDA’s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee (adcom) and the Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee will take up the matter of an add-on indication for Rexulti, a serotonin-dopamine activity modulator for schizophrenia and for the adjunctive treatment of major depressive disorder.