In a step toward what may become the new normal, at least for now, the Pediatric Oncology Subcommittee of the FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee is meeting virtually Wednesday and Thursday to review pediatric development plans for four cancer drugs.
A wireless system to monitor mothers in labor and their fetuses has been introduced by Royal Philips NV in the U.S. Known as the Avalon CL Fetal and Maternal Pod and Patch, it is commercialized under recently updated guidance from the U.S. FDA. The Amsterdam-based company is continuing to pursue a standard 510(k) clearance for the system, which is marketed in European countries, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
Clew Medical Ltd., of Netanya, Israel, has secured an emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. FDA for its ClewICU system for use with COVID-19 patients in intensive care units (ICUs). The screening system is a standalone software as a medical device product that uses vital signs, laboratory data, medications and other information to assess the likelihood a patient has been infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Two months earlier than expected, Pharmamar SA and partner Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc received an accelerated FDA approval of Zepzelca to treat relapsed metastatic small-cell lung cancer patients.
The latest FDA report card on the quality of drugs being sold in the U.S. is nothing to brag about. On a grading scale where 90% to 100% is an “A” and anything below 60% is failing, the average manufacturing site inspection score for drugs marketed in the U.S. in fiscal 2019 would be a solid “C” – or 7.4 on the FDA’s 10-point grading scale. But at least 10 sites had failing marks with scores of 5.
Just 80 days after first issuing an emergency use authorization (EUA) for oral formulations of chloroquine phosphate (CQ) and hydroxychloroquine sulfate (HCQ) in treating COVID-19, the FDA is revoking that authorization in light of clinical data and scientific literature that raised questions about whether benefits of the treatment outweigh the risks.
As expected, Viela Bio Inc. won FDA clearance for the humanized anti-CD19 monoclonal antibody Uplizna (inebilizumab-cdon) to treat adults with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), a rare neuroinflammatory disease.
The U.S. FDA granted San Diego-based Illumina Inc. an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the first COVID-19 diagnostic test that uses next-generation sequencing (NGS). In addition to diagnosing infection with SARS-CoV-2, the COVIDSeq test can help researchers track mutations in the coronavirus.
The FDA Thursday approved Mylan NV’s Semglee (insulin glargine), adding another player to the U.S. insulin space that has been pretty much controlled by three companies – Eli Lilly and Co., Novo Nordisk A/S and Sanofi SA.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has reached into quarters that are not historically problematic for makers of diagnostics, including China’s import and export practices for test kits. According to one caller on an FDA diagnostic town hall, export officials in China have a blacklist and a whitelist for test kits, but there is some dispute as to whether kits that are eligible for distribution in the U.S. can get off the blacklist unless that kit is specifically called out via the emergency use authorization (EUA) program.
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