On its PDUFA date Thursday, the FDA cleared Xcopri (cenobamate) tablets from South Korea’s SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. to treat partial-onset seizures in adults. The drug’s mechanism of action is not fully understood, but it's believed to work through two separate mechanisms: enhancing inhibitory currents through positive modulation of GABA-A receptors and decreasing excitatory currents by inhibiting the persistent sodium current.
Shares of Eyegate Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:EYEG) rose 54.8% to $7.09 Friday on news that its ocular bandage gel (OBG) proved superior to standard of care in healing corneal wounds following photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) surgery. The pivotal top-line data will allow the Waltham, Mass.-based company to submit a de novo application to the FDA for commercialization in the first half of 2020, said CEO Stephen From. If approved, the OBG eye drop would be the first product indicated to repair corneal epithelial defects, as well as the first prescription hyaluronic acid (HA) eye drop in the U.S., creating new competition for widely used bandage contact lenses (BCL).
Recro Pharma Inc. CEO Geraldine Henwood said the firm, in response to its appeal to the FDA on behalf of I.V. meloxicam for moderate to severe postoperative pain, got a “very lengthy letter” agreeing that safety and efficacy were sufficient for approval but “there was a need to negotiate labeling.”
Patient engagement has become more than a buzzword for the FDA and drug and device developers. But for payers, not so much. When valuing new drugs and devices, payers often undervalue or ignore what they may consider convenience updates, giving little to no consideration to the difference a seemingly minor improvement could make to patients debilitated by fatigue, pain, the burden of treatment and the burden of a disease itself.
The U.S. FDA has given Medtronic plc a green light for its In.Pact AV drug-coated balloon, the second application for the Dublin-based company’s In.Pact DCB platform. The paclitaxel-coated balloon is now indicated for the treatment failing arteriovenous (AV) access in patients undergoing dialysis due to end-stage renal disease (ESRD). In.Pact AV leverages technology from Medtronic’s In.Pact Admiral DCB, which first snagged FDA approval in 2015 for treatment of superficial femoral artery (SFA) lesions above the knee.
The FDA’s safety and performance-based pathway for 510(k) devices promises to streamline premarket filings, and the FDA’s Jason Ryans said on a recent webinar that any changes to the related product-specific guidances would be applicable only prospectively. Ryan made no mention of a grace period for impending applications, however, suggesting that any such devices may have to be reworked or resubmitted into a more conventional premarket channel if they do not meet the new requirements.
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