The threat of tariffs on imports of branded drugs is about to be realized after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 100% import duty will apply beginning Oct. 1. However, the flurry of recent announcements by pharma companies of investments in U.S. manufacturing plants may have paid off, with the president saying in his announcement on Truth Social that the 100% rate will be enforced “unless a company is building their manufacturing plant in America.”
About five months after the U.S. FDA disclosed its roadmap to move away from animal testing in favor of new approaches for biopharma drug development, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) said it is awarding $87 million in contracts over three years to launch the Standardized Organoid Modeling Center.
The U.S. FDA issued a pair of final guidances this week, including one that outlines the criteria for authorizing emergency use of unapproved in vitro diagnostic tests during future public health emergencies and another on software assurance in computer and data processing systems for medical device production.
Kent Imaging Inc. received CE marking for its SnapshotNIR imaging device which uses near-infrared spectroscopy to measure oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin in the microvasculature. The non-invasive point-of-care device provides real-time data to clinicians to help them make decisions which can change the trajectory of a wound, from chronic and non-healing, into a healing one, significantly improving the patient’s quality of life.
About five months after the U.S. FDA disclosed its roadmap to move away from animal testing in favor of new approaches for biopharma drug development, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) said it is awarding $87 million in contracts over three years to launch the Standardized Organoid Modeling Center.
The winding regulatory road for the BLA to Capricor Therapeutics Inc.’s cell therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy has more clarity. Out of a recent type A meeting between Capricor and the U.S. FDA, prompted by a complete response letter in July regarding lead asset CAP-1002 (deramiocel), the two are in agreement about a path to potential approval.
The struggle to avoid a partial U.S. government shutdown at midnight Sept. 30 is getting a lot of attention, as the stakes increase every day of the political standoff. Meanwhile, Sept. 30 also could be the end of the 43-year-old Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, which has been a funding boon for biotech and med-tech startups, if Congress can’t come together on a reauthorization bill.
The FDA has awarded orphan drug designation to Cure Rare Disease’s CRD-003 for the treatment of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type R9 (LGMD2i/R9), a congenital muscular dystrophy caused by biallelic mutations in the FKRP gene.
Resvita Bio Inc. has held a pre-IND meeting with the FDA for RVB-003, its lead investigational therapy for Netherton syndrome. The FDA’s feedback gives the company a pathway to submit an IND for RVB-003 in the first half of next year, with a clinical efficacy read-out anticipated by early 2027.
Word Sept. 4 from Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc. that the U.S. FDA extended the PDUFA date for the sNDA related to Pyrukynd (mitapivat), after the Cambridge, Mass.-based firm submitted a proposed risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS), drew Wall Street’s attention to the regulatory approach.