PERTH, Australia – An independent review of recent reforms to Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) advertising framework confirmed that the changes to the new advertising code resulted in improvement, with the new code being clearer and easier to understand. The advertising reforms are part of larger regulatory reforms implemented to increase the pathways for marketing approval for drugs and devices while reducing regulatory red tape and redundancies.

The U.S. FDA has granted emergency use authorization (EUA) to Lumiradx UK Ltd. for its point-of-care SARS-CoV-2 antigen test, which aims to speed the diagnosis of people suspected of having the virus that causes COVID-19. The test detects antigen nucleocapsid protein from a nasal swab taken from symptomatic patients and delivers results in less than 12 minutes.

Avoiding the political overtones that seem to be more viral than COVID-19 these days, Anand Shah, deputy commissioner for medical and scientific affairs at the FDA, stressed that even though the agency is making decisions in real time in response to the urgency of the pandemic in the U.S., its decisions are being driven by scientific integrity, regulatory independence and the FDA’s historic commitment to ensuring the safety and efficacy of the products it regulates.

Novartis AG won FDA clearance for the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody Kesimpta (ofatumumab) in relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) in adults, with a label that includes clinically isolated syndrome and relapsing-remitting as well as active secondary progressive disease.

The U.S. FDA has greenlighted two new modules for Siemens Healthineers’ AI-Rad Companion platform, giving radiologists new artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist in interpreting magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of the brain and prostate. The AI-Rad Companion Brain MR for Morphometry Analysis and AI-Rad Companion Prostate MR for Biopsy Support join earlier intelligent software modules for Chest CT.