In March, the U.S. FDA approved 30 new drugs, marking the highest monthly count in BioWorld’s records. The previous highest month of June 2020, with 29 FDA approvals, is followed by November 2017’s 27 approvals.

Genfleet Therapeutics Inc. has entered the KRAS G12C inhibitor race in the U.S. as it gears up to begin phase III trials of GFH-925 (IBI-351) in patients with refractory metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) following FDA clearance.

Royal Philips NV may feel it has had enough recent interaction with the U.S. FDA, but the company is now in receipt of a warning letter from the agency over a facility located in Suzhou, China. The FDA was none too fond of the facility’s handling of a contract manufactured data cable used in CT systems because of malfunctions that may have delayed diagnostic imaging procedures, representing yet another regulatory distraction for a company that recently cleared a long-running conflict with the FDA over CPAP machines.

Neurovalens Ltd recently received U.S. FDA clearance for its Modius Stress device, a neurostimulator that treats people suffering from generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). It also closed a £2.1 million (US$2.65 million) funding round and is planning to raise up to $50 million in a series B fundraising round to be launched later this year.

After several delays, the interleukin-15 superagonist Anktiva (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept) from Immunitybio Inc. has been approved by the U.S. FDA for treating bladder cancer, specifically Bacillus Calmette-Guérin-unresponsive non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer with carcinoma in situ, with or without papillary tumors.

Lumicell Inc. sees a brighter future now that it has secured U.S. FDA approval for both its new drug application for Lumisight (pegulicianine) optical imaging agent and premarket approval for the Lumicell direct visualization system.  

Genfleet Therapeutics Inc. has entered the KRAS G12C inhibitor race in the U.S. as it gears up to begin phase III trials of GFH-925 (IBI-351) in patients with refractory metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) following FDA clearance. GFH-925 was the first KRAS G12C inhibitor to receive breakthrough therapy designation from China's National Medical Products Administration for previously treated advanced CRC.

The U.S. FDA has cleared Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc’s IND to initiate a phase I first-in-human, clinical trial of ORX-750 for the treatment of narcolepsy.

In March, the U.S. FDA approved 30 new drugs, marking the highest monthly count in BioWorld’s records. The previous highest month of June 2020, with 29 FDA approvals, is followed by November 2017’s 27 approvals. In 2023, the FDA greenlit an average of about 16 drugs per month, 12.5 in 2022, and 17 in both 2021 and 2020. The surge in March marks a 173% increase from the 11 drugs approved in February.

While the U.S. FDA’s final rule for regulation of lab-developed tests (LDTs) has yet to emerge, there is some reason to expect the rule will be met with litigation from clinical lab associations. The FDA’s Jeff Shuren said in remarks to this year’s meeting of the Medical Device Manufacturers Association that there is a legitimate problem with the accuracy of many LDTs, adding that while stakeholders are at liberty to question the FDA’s rulemaking, the agency’s experience in this area indicates that the question of LDT reliability is not up for debate.