In addition to safety questions about its COVID-19 vaccine, Johnson & Johnson is facing manufacturing challenges as a key partner, Emergent Biosolutions Inc., has yet to get FDA approval to manufacture or distribute the vaccine or its components in the U.S. That approval could be awhile in coming. On April 21, a day after completing its onsite inspection of Emergent’s Bayview plant in Baltimore, Md., the FDA released Form 483 from its inspection, revealing nine observations related to cross-contamination issues, lack of employee training and poorly designed and maintained facilities.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Allogene, Apic, Chiesi, Oasmia, Organicell, Pharvaris.
Now drugmakers can gain instant access to hospitals in Hainan province right after their innovative drugs are approved by China’s National Medical Products Administration to skip market entry hurdles.
As COVID-19 deaths across the globe top 3 million, with more than 1 million in Europe alone, the global demand is increasing for mRNA vaccines, even as sponsors of adenovirus vaccines push back against ongoing safety concerns. Last week, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office for Europe reported that the confirmed COVID-19 death toll for the region had surpassed 1 million, with 1.6 million new cases being reported every week. More than 171 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the region, translating to nearly 13% of the European population receiving one dose and close to 6% completing both doses of the vaccines.
The negotiations for the next medical device user fee agreement are well underway, but the FDA is pressing the case for a substantial increase in device user fees. While the controversy over the cost of each addition to the FDA staff has not gone away, the agency continues to compare device user fees to drug user fees even though the drug industry is populated by much larger companies, thus nullifying any such comparisons in the view of device makers.
Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. has won the FDA’s nod for its Rosa Partial Knee system for robotically assisted partial knee arthroscopy. The new system is the latest addition to the Rosa Robotics platform, which also includes the Rosa Knee system for total knee replacement and Rosa One for neurosurgical and spine procedures. The Rosa Partial Knee system is designed to be compatible with Zimmer’s Personal partial knee. It incorporates 2D to 3D X-Atlas imaging technology and real-time, intraoperative data collection on both soft tissue and bone anatomies to ensure accurate bone cuts and improve range of motion gap analysis.
The latest global regulatory news, changes and updates affecting biopharma in Asia, including: Central Drugs Standard Control Organization, World Health Organization.
The latest global regulatory news, changes and updates affecting medical devices and technologies, including: FDA provides path for diagnostic testing using pooled samples; FDA inks warnings for pandemic testing; Recall issued for repaired infusion pumps; NICE launches transformative strategy; NICE launches transformative strategy; Russia expands access to certain pediatric treatments.
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Livanova, Spinal Elements, Zimmer Biomet.