Aerin Medical Inc., an Austin, Texas-based company focused on minimally invasive solutions for chronic nasal conditions, has won U.S. FDA clearance for the Rhinaer Stylus to treat chronic rhinitis. The Rhinaer procedure can be performed under a local anesthetic in an ear, nose and throat (ENT) physician’s office, with no incisions and minimal discomfort.
PERTH, Australia – The FDA granted Melbourne-based Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and San Diego, California-based Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. a rare pediatric disease designation for trofinetide for treatment of Rett syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental congenital central nervous system disorder.
With an eye toward helping those with early stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), Basel, Switzerland-based Roche Group has won a breakthrough device designation from the U.S. FDA for the Elecsys GALAD score. When combined with ultrasound, the Elecsys GALAD score aims to help provide more accurate information for clinicians to treat patients at an earlier stage.
HONG KONG – Tessa Therapeutics Pte Ltd.’s CD30 CAR T-cell therapy has been granted a regenerative medicine advanced therapy designation by the U.S. FDA based on data from two independent phase I/II trials.
With trauma patients and those suffering from bleeding disorders, being able to quickly assess a person’s bleeding risk can be lifesaving, but most current tests to measure clotting ability are laboratory-based and don’t provide immediate results. To that end, the U.S. FDA has granted Cleveland-based Xatek Inc. breakthrough device designation for its Clotchip portable blood clotting sensor.
Paris-based Sanofi SA won FDA clearance of the intravenously given CD38-directed cytolytic antibody Sarclisa (isatuximab-irfc) in combination with pomalidomide (Pomalyst, Celgene Corp.) and dexamethasone (dex) for adults with multiple myeloma (MM) who have received at least two prior therapies, including lenalidomide (Revlimid, Celgene Corp.) and a proteasome inhibitor.
COVID-19 is bringing more pressure to bear on Congress to pass S. 2723, the Mitigating Emergency Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act, which has been sitting in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee since Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced it in October 2019 – a few months before the novel coronavirus emerged.
The U.S. FDA has posted an immediately-in-effect policy document regarding clinical laboratory development of diagnostics for the pathogen responsible for COVID-19 disease. The agency said the policy allows a lab to use any diagnostic before the FDA has completed an exhaustive review of the test.
The U.S. FDA is well known for encouraging industry to meet with the agency “early and often” for complex premarket filings, but the Combination Products Coalition (CPC) says a recent draft guidance seems to offer the exception. The group said the December 2019 FDA guidance for feedback on combination product applications “seems to generally discourage” the use of the combination product agreement meeting (CPAM). It added that the complexity of some combination products suggests that such a meeting may well be crucial to an efficient application process.
With the FDA’s blessing, Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Co. Ltd.’s Nurtec ODT (rimegepant) enters a massive market for treating migraine in adults. In the U.S. alone, more than 25 million people have been diagnosed and seek treatment.