Longeveron Inc.’s share price (NASDAQ:LGVN) jumped 11.7% on Dec. 3 after the FDA awarded orphan designation to Lomecel-B, allogeneic bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells, for treating hypoplastic left heart syndrome. The designation came two weeks after the FDA granted rare pediatric disease designation for Lomecel-B to treat the life-threatening congenital heart defect in infants.
PERTH, Australia – The FDA has cleared Immunexpress Inc.’s 510(k) for its Septicyte rapid diagnostic test for sepsis that quantifies the relative expression levels of genes involved in a patient's immune response to infection to aid in a diagnosis in one hour for patients suspected of sepsis. The test uses peripheral blood gene expression biomarkers to provide a probability of sepsis in patients presenting with clinical signs of systemic inflammation.
The FDA’s device center is required to develop and publish special controls for devices that are deemed class II items via the de novo petition process, and five such declarations were posted Dec. 1 to the Federal Register. One of these de novo classifications, for conditioning tools for eating disorders, was the subject of a de novo petition filed in 2007 and granted in 2011.
The FDA granted 510(k) clearance to Metame Health Inc.’s Regulora, the company’s prescription digital therapeutic (PDT) for abdominal pain associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Regulora provides gut-directed hypnotherapy in a smartphone app that is designed to help patients better manage their symptoms and address miscommunication between the brain and gut that contributes to sensations of pain.
Device makers have historically struggled to maintain adequate procedures for corrective and preventive action (CAPA) and complaint handling (CH), and two warning letters posted to the FDA website suggest these are still sore spots. Invacare Corp., of Elyria, Ohio, and Smiths Medical ASD Inc., of Minneapolis, were both cited for CAPA and CH deficiencies.
One of the biggest concerns at the Nov. 30 meeting of the FDA’s Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee is that, if Merck & Co. Inc.-Ridgeback Biotherapeutics Inc.’s antiviral drug, molnupiravir, is authorized for use in treating mild to moderate COVID-19 in patients at high risk of progressing to severe disease, it might be used too broadly, given its potential risks.
Beyondspring Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it received a complete response letter from the FDA regarding the NDA for plinabulin, the company’s lead asset. The FDA said results of a phase III registrational trial were strong enough to show benefit but a second trial is needed to satisfy the agency.
Pricing of VBI Vaccines Inc.’s just-approved hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine, Prehevbrio, won’t be known before launch in the first quarter of next year, but CEO Jeff Baxter said the company will take into account that the sector is “one of the most price-intensive and price-competitive. A lot of the market-access research says that the wholesale acquisition cost is one of the key determinants” in avoiding sluggish adoption, he said, so that by staying moderate the firm can “supply [its] product on a much quicker basis than you might do, say, if you went with a 30% or 40% premium to standard of care.”
While the FDA’s reaction to the results of the Nov. 30 advisory hearing for the COVID-19 therapy molnupiravir is difficult to predict, demand for rapid antigen tests may jump considerably when this or any such product is approved. That increased demand could crunch supplies of these tests due to the convergence of any such approvals, the upcoming holiday season, and the 2021-22 flu season, a convergence that could hamper efforts to roll out these new therapies.
Following an FDA priority review, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.'s oral antiviral, maribavir, has won U.S. approval as the first drug in the country to treat resistant cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and disease in adult and pediatric transplant recipients. The drug will be marketed as Livtencity.
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