Olga Torres, co-owner of Miami-based Unlimited Medical Research, pleaded guilty Jan. 12 to obstructing a 2017 FDA inspection in connection with an alleged scheme to falsify data in a clinical trial evaluating an asthma drug for children.

Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Abbott, Electrocore, Evolved by Nature.

In proposing a national coverage determination to limit coverage of a class of Alzheimer’s drugs to those being used in clinical trials approved by the U.S. Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services or the NIH, CMS appears to be treading in FDA territory. “For the first time ever, Medicare is second-guessing FDA – and not only on work that it has already done, but on work FDA will do in the future,” said George Vradenburg, chair and co-founder of Us Against Alzheimer’s, a patient advocacy group. “HHS [the Department of Health and Human Services] is clearly at war with itself, with one agency approving this class of drugs and another slamming the door shut on treatment. . .. Does CMS no longer trust the FDA’s work?”

Cansino Biologics Inc. has received marketing approval from the NMPA for its ACYW-135 meningococcal conjugate vaccine, Menhycia, making it the first of its kind to be authorized in China. The approval marks “an important step in accelerating the development of China’s meningococcal vaccine immunization strategy,” the company said.

Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Avinger, Cochlear, GI Supply, Indica Labs, Inivata, Lumiradx, Medtronic, Sight Diagnostics.