As if the FDA doesn’t have enough on its hands with COVID-19, Monday is deeming day. That’s the day nearly 100 drugs approved via new drug applications (NDAs) are to be deemed biologics, courtesy of the 2010 Biologic Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA).
Abbott Laboratories, of Abbott Park, Ill., is the latest company to receive emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. FDA for a test to detect SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The company said it is shipping 150,000 Realtime SARS-CoV-2 tests immediately to existing customers in the U.S., with plans to produce 1 million tests a week by the end of the month.
PERTH, Australia – Australian digital health company Resapp Health Ltd. was down nearly 52% following news that the U.S. FDA rejected its de novo request for its smartphone application for the diagnosis and management of respiratory disease. The agency rejected the application, citing the need for additional information to demonstrate that the “clinical benefits of the device outweigh the risks,” CEO Tony Keating told analysts during a March 12 conference call on the news.
With medical researchers across the globe adjusting to the far-reaching impacts of COVID-19, commercial and academic trialists are taking action to protect essential studies. Regulators, too, are now joining the effort in a more concerted way, with the FDA issuing new guidance for industry, investigators and institutional review boards on conducting clinical trials during the pandemic.