The biosimilars revolution continues with the U.S. FDA’s approval of the first denosumab biosimilars: Wyost (denosumab-bbdz) and Jubbonti (denosumab-bbdz) from Sandoz Inc. for treating osteoporosis and to prevent bone problems in cancer. The approval puts up a strong challenge to Amgen Inc.’s Prolia, the first biologic for osteoporosis, and Xgeva, for bone cancer.
The U.S. FDA announced several new and updated recalls recently, including a new recall of incubators made by Wipro GE Health Pvt. Ltd., of Bangalore, India, which may be subject to an increased risk that the infant may fall out of the system.
The EMA validated two marketing approval applications of Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. and Astrazeneca plc’s antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) datopotamab deruxtecan (dato-dxd) on Mar. 4, for two types of lung and breast cancer.
Taiwan’s Formosa Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Aimmax Therapeutics, Inc. said the U.S. FDA approved APP-13007 (clobetasol propionate ophthalmic suspension 0.05%), a twice-daily corticosteroid eye drop for postoperative eye pain and inflammation.
While members of the U.S. FDA’s Imaging Drugs Advisory Committee weren’t blown away March 5 by the trial performance of Lumicell Inc.’s Lumisight (pegulicianine) in helping breast cancer patients avoid second surgeries due to negative margins following a lumpectomy, they voted 16-2, with one abstention, that the benefits of the imaging drug outweigh its risks, even though those benefits are incremental.
The EMA validated two marketing approval applications of Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. and Astrazeneca plc’s antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) datopotamab deruxtecan (dato-dxd) on Mar. 4, for two types of lung and breast cancer.
The March 5 meeting of the U.S. FDA’s Medical Imaging Drugs Advisory Committee could be the gateway to the first approved intraoperative technology for use in breast cancer that directly examines the lumpectomy cavity for residual cancer.
The U.S. FDA has proposed an update to an existing program for user fee reductions for companies grossing less than $100 million, although this latest update is much stingier than that. The update would provide registration fee relief for entities with revenues of $1 million or less, but only if that business is in bankruptcy proceedings, a meager bit of relief considering that registration fees in fiscal 2024 run to less than $7,700.
The U.S. FDA reported Feb. 29 that data on the Hintermann series H3 total ankle system suggest a significantly higher rate of device failure than seen in premarket clinical studies, a problem that has arisen even though only five years have passed since the agency approved the device.
On March 1, Boston Scientific Corp.’s Agent drug-coated balloon (DCB) became the first DCB to gain U.S. FDA approval for treatment of in-stent restenosis in patients with coronary artery disease. With more than 100,000 patients already treated in Europe, Latin America and Japan, it’s no secret Agent provides significant benefit compared to balloon angioplasty or drug-eluting stents (DES) for the approximately 10% of patients with coronary stents who experience subsequent narrowing of the treated vessel.