Public drug and device companies may want to think twice before eagerly jumping on the COVID-19 bandwagon with announcements overselling their efforts to develop or repurpose products to treat patients infected with the coronavirus.
HONG KONG – South Korean biopharmaceutical company Kolon Tissuegene Inc. got a new lease on life as the U.S. FDA lifted the hold on the phase III trial for its lead candidate, Invossa-K (Invossa), for the treatment of osteoarthritis.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Alphamab, Ascendis, Autolus, Eagle, Emmaus, Index, Mayne, Mithra, Provention, Regeneron, Tetra, Tissuetech, Zai.
The FDA approved Urogen Pharma Ltd.’s mitomycin gel, an orphan drug branded Jelmyto, on April 15, offering patients the first non-surgical option for low-grade upper tract urothelial cancer (LG-UTUC) and granting the Princeton, N.J.-based company with its first marketed product.
An April 15 U.S. FDA stakeholder call revisited several themes of interest in connection with diagnostics for the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Tim Stenzel, director of the agency’s Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health, said that while the agency has not yet authorized a home sample collection kit, “we do think it’s going to happen very soon.”
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Behold.ai, Chembio, Nova Biomedical, Ortho.
The latest global regulatory news, changes and updates affecting medical devices and technologies, including: Advamed, Cardinal Health, Face Vital, Thermo Fisher Scientific.
The collection of nasal and throat swab samples to detect the presence or absence of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has proven problematic on a few fronts, particularly in the U.S. The swabs themselves often have become scarce and difficult to obtain, while health care workers are routinely risking their own health commonly in the absence of proper protective equipment. In addition, sampling difficulties have largely been blamed for a very high false negative rate that could be as much as 25%.