The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has cracked open its coverage policy for transcatheter aortic valve replacement devices a second time, and a wide range of stakeholders are providing feedback. Where the agency will land on questions such as the need for continued evidence development is difficult to predict, however, given that the agency is hearing anything but unanimity on the question.

Adolore Biotherapeutics Inc. has announced that the FDA has granted orphan drug designation to the company’s Kv7-activating rdHSV-CA8* gene therapy for treatment of primary and secondary erythromelalgia.

The EMA had its second busiest year ever in 2025, approving 104 drugs, of which 38 had a new active substance. Sixteen of these are for treating rare diseases, and four are advanced therapy medicinal products.

U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled his “Great Healthcare Plan” Jan. 15, an initiative he said would slash prescription drug prices, maximize price transparency in the health care system and hold big insurance companies accountable.

The U.S. FDA has endorsed ISO 14971 for risk management for medical device manufacturers, but there’s nothing compulsory about industry’s use of this standard. Nonetheless, Sarah Moore, principal program lead at NSF, told BioWorld that adoption of 14971 is still the most seamless way to demonstrate proper risk management practices to FDA field investigators, given that the alternative is almost always more work for both sides during facility inspections.

Years after approving three glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists to treat obesity, the U.S. FDA is acknowledging that the drugs don’t have the same risk seen with older weight-loss medicines. Citing its post-market evaluation that found no increased risk of suicidal ideation or behavior, the U.S. FDA is requesting that the risk be removed from the warnings and precautions section of labeling for the GLP-1 obesity drugs – Eli Lilly and Co.’s Zepbound (tirzepatide) and Novo Nordisk A/S’ Saxenda (liraglutide) and Wegovy (semaglutide).

The U.S. FDA’s Jan. 14 webinar for the new Quality Management System Regulation included some fairly predictable content, but one member of the FDA staff mentioned that the agency now expects corporate management to demonstrate the correct “attitude” with regard to product quality, suggesting that agency staff will be more keen to crack down on firms that dispute the agency’s perspectives on quality management.

Boston Scientific Corp.'s Farapoint, its latest pulsed field ablation catheter, received U.S. FDA approval for use as an adjunctive device when treating persistent atrial fibrillation that requires cavotricuspid isthmus ablation, CEO Mike Mahoney reported at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. The newest member of the popular Farapulse family of PFA catheters provides a focal point option for creation of straight line or focal lesions, complementing the larger, single-shot Farawave catheter that has dominated the PFA market since its U.S. approval in early 2024.