Abata Therapeutics Inc. has obtained FDA clearance for its IND application enabling initiation of a first-in-human study of ABA-101 in patients with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). A phase I study will open later this year.

Uniqure NV shares (NASDAQ:QURE) closed July 9 at $6.67, up $2.89, or 76%, after the firm made public updated interim data including up to 24 months of follow-up findings from 29 treated patients enrolled in the ongoing U.S. and European phase I/II trials of AMT-130 for Huntington’s disease (HD).

Pulse Biosciences Inc. received U.S. FDA breakthrough device designation for its Cellfx cardiac surgery system with surgical clamp for ablation of atrial fibrillation. The Cellfx system uses nanosecond pulsed field ablation technology to deliver durable, continuous transmural ablation.

The U.S. FDA warning letter to AG Essence Inc., a maker of wound care products, raised the question of whether the the company’s Banda product line is a drug or a device, although the FDA’s device center was the issuer of the warning letter. However, the company told ioWorld that it sees its offerings as homeopathic products rather than as drugs or devices, suggesting that this product jurisdiction scrum is far from over.

Bob Califf, commissioner of the U.S. FDA, has been laser-focused on misinformation recently, and the agency reissued a 2014 draft guidance that describes an enforcement policy about third-party communications about a drug or device. The draft appears to sidestep at least one major problem with the 2014 edition, but seems to suggest that manufacturers should consider addressing misinformation about an entire class of products.

The pilot version of the U.S. FDA’s advisory program for breakthrough medical device life cycle management was initially limited to cardiovascular devices, but the agency has announced an expansion into other product areas. Going forward, orthopedic, radiological and ophthalmic devices will be eligible for the FDA’s Total Life Cycle Advisory Program, which will aid applicants in obtaining both faster and more trouble-free market access.

Less than a month after the U.S. FDA’s Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee handed down a unanimous vote in favor of Eli Lilly and Co.’s Alzheimer’s disease candidate (AD), donanemab, the agency approved the drug as a once-monthly injection for adults with early symptomatic disease. Branded Kisunla, the beta-amyloid antagonist marks the second approved AD drug that has demonstrated in clinical trials an ability to slow cognitive decline, going up against Leqembi (lecanemab) from Biogen Inc. and Eisai Co. Ltd., which won full approval in July 2023, only six months after nabbing an accelerated nod.

The U.S. FDA granted Signum Surgical Ltd. de novo marketing clearance for its Biohealx technology as a treatment for anal fistula. Biohealx is a single use, bioabsorbable implant, designed to not only to treat the condition in a minimally invasive procedure but also promote healing, prevent fistula recurrence and protect patient continence.

In May 2024, BioWorld covered 298 updates across phase I-III clinical trials, surpassing March (261), February (236) and January (252), though falling short of April’s high of 323. Additionally, at the end of May BioWorld revised its reporting criteria for clinical trial updates, focusing mainly on data readouts and excluding trial initiations, enrollment changes and initial patient dosing, thereby impacting the update count relative to prior months.