The U.S. FDA approved 15 drugs in October, marking a decline from 24 in September and 22 in August. Despite the drop, the 2024 monthly average stands at about 19 approvals, exceeding last year’s average of 16, 2022’s 12.5, and the 17-per-month averages recorded in both 2021 and 2020.

Former U.S. FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg has added her voice to concerns that the incoming Trump administration’s pledge to slim down federal agencies will damage public health. “These are certainly challenging times,” Hamburg told delegates at the World Science Forum, Budapest, Hungary, meeting to discuss issues dominating the interface between science and policy.

The U.S. FDA granted Brightheart SAS 510(k) clearance for its artificial intelligence software which helps doctors detect congenital heart defects in fetuses. The software will transform prenatal ultrasound evaluations of the fetal heart and improve the outcomes for newborns, Cécile Dupont, Brightheart’s CEO, told BioWorld.

More than a week ahead of its priority PDUFA date, the U.S. FDA has greenlit the first dual HER2-targeted bispecific antibody specifically for previously treated, unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive biliary tract cancer. The approval went to Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc for Ziihera (zanidatamab), an injection given to adults every two weeks. The treatment was designed to have a more favorable profile than competitors, where drugs targeting HER2 such as Astrazeneca plc’s Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) and Roche Holding AG’s Herceptin (trastuzumab) are options, as well as checkpoint inhibitors such as Merck & Co Inc.’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab).

The U.S. FDA added hidradenitis suppurativa to the label for UCB SA’s Bimzelx (bimekizumab-bkzx), throwing renewed light on the indication, a chronic disease that causes painful, boil-like lumps that appear under the skin. Regulators cleared the humanized IL-17A and IL-17F antagonist for adults with moderate to severe HS, marking the drug’s fifth approval.

Epigenic Therapeutics Inc. has received clinical trial application (CTA) approval from the New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority (Medsafe) and the Health and Disability Ethics Committees (HDEC) to initiate a clinical trial for EPI-003, an investigational, liver-targeting antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

Ractigen Therapeutics Co. Ltd.’s RAG-21, a novel siRNA therapy targeting the FUS gene, has been awarded orphan drug designation by the FDA for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).