Drug pricing legislation will be high on the to-do list when the U.S. Congress returns from its August recess next week, as both the Senate and the House are expected to take action this month on competing packages of provisions aimed at controlling prescription drug prices.

While regulatory science can lag behind technology advances, the FDA has for the past few years been exploring ways to harness the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline drug development and the approval process. A nexus for its efforts is the Information Exchange and Data Transformation (INFORMED) initiative anchored in the agency's Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE). At its inception in 2016, INFORMED was designed to tap into the power of big data and advanced analytics to improve disease outcomes.

The U.S. FDA has cleared the way for Physiq Inc., of Naperville, Ill., to market its continuous ambulatory respiratory rate algorithm, adding to the company's portfolio of cloud-based analytics for biopharma and health insurance companies. The 510(k) notification will allow Physiq to boost its higher-level artificial intelligence (AI) platform with validated vital signs inputs.

HONG KONG – Olive Healthcare Inc., a South Korean biotech startup, said its abdominal fat scanner Bello has received an FDA approval to sell the device in the U.S. The company said it plans to launch the scanner in the country this December, after a market test. The miniature device is portable with a weight of 3.8 oz (107 g), measuring 3.9 inches (10 centimeters) long, 3.1 inches wide and 1.9 inches high.

HONG KONG – Samsung Bioepis Co. Ltd., a South Korean biosimilar developer, said the FDA approved its July 2018 application for Hadlima (adalimumab-bwwd), a biosimilar referencing Abbvie Inc. blockbuster TNF-blocker Humira (adalimumab).

Device makers have reporting responsibilities for devices used in combination products per an FDA final rule published in 2016, but the FDA said in the 2018 draft guidance that the applicant of a drug- or biologic-led combo product must evaluate whether a malfunction of the device component would suggest a hazard for similar combinations using that device. That provision appears in the final rule, and thus puts the onus on makers of drugs and biologics to do a job device makers say is theirs to handle.

Eli Lilly and Co.'s FDA win with Baqsimi (glucagon) nasal powder, the first non-injected therapy to gain clearance for emergency treatment of hypoglycemia, makes the rescue of severely hypoglycemic patients quicker and easier, and coming down the pike are more treatments that could simplify therapy.

Following more than a year of restructuring and recalibration, Regulus Therapeutics Inc. is facing a new partial clinical hold placed by the FDA on its phase I test of RGLS-4326, an oligonucleotide it's developing for the treatment of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). 

After two complete response letters (CRLs), Agile Therapeutics Inc. with its Twirla (levonorgestrel/ethinyl estradiol) contraceptive patch – hounded by FDA concerns regarding manufacture and adhesion properties – might just be on the road to success.

Pharmaceutical and life sciences giant Bayer AG scored another indication for its MRI contrast agent, Gadavist (gadobutrol) injection, this time in adults with suspected coronary artery disease. The FDA nod makes Gadavist the first and only contrast agent approved for use in cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging.