Once-daily insulin treatment is getting a challenge from Novo Nordisk A/S’s once-weekly option. The U.S. FDA’s Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee meets Friday, May 23, to review the BLA for once-weekly Awiqli (insulin icodec), a human insulin analogue from Novo for adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus.
In lieu of pending guidance, the U.S. FDA’s approval May 20 of Biocon Biologics Ltd.’s Yesafili and Samsung Bioepis Co. Ltd.’s Opuviz as interchangeable biosimilars to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s Eylea (aflibercept) provides further insight into how the agency is approaching the market exclusivity the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act awards to the first approved interchangeable for any given biologic.
Abbott Laboratories announced a class I recall of the Heartmate 3 left ventricular assist system (LVAS) that affects nearly 890 units distributed over the past three years, a move triggered by reports of blood leakage or air entry into the device during implant procedures.
The U.S. FDA approved the country’s first two interchangeable biosimilars, or copy products, of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc./Bayer AG’s Eylea (aflibercept) on May 20, to treat four eye-related conditions. The FDA granted the approvals to U.S.- and India-based Johnson & Johnson Services Inc./Biocon Biologics Ltd.’s Yesafili (aflibercept-jbvf; M-710) and South Korea’s Samsung Bioepis Co. Ltd.’s Opuviz (aflibercept-yszy; SB-15).
South Korea’s HLB Co. Ltd. saw its stock (KOSDAQ:028300) drop nearly 30% on May 17 as CEO Jin Yang-gon announced the U.S. FDA’s complete response letter (CRL) to its NDA seeking approval of its rivoceranib and camrelizumab (Airtuika, Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.) combo for liver cancer.
The FDA has cleared an IND application for GC-1130A, a treatment for mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIA (MPS IIIA, Sanfilippo syndrome type A) being jointly developed by GC Biopharma Corp. and Novel Pharma Inc.
Ultrasound cyclodestruction may not be the darling of American ophthalmologists and their patients dealing with glaucoma, but that may soon change thanks to a recent move by the U.S. FDA. The agency has down-classified these devices from class III to class II in a move that may prompt competition for current device-based methods of treating glaucoma, including widely used laser-based treatments.
U.S. Medicare coverage of transcatheter aortic valve replacement devices requires the use of team medicine for patient selection purposes, which seems to have served as a tripwire for Cape Cod Hospital (CCH) in Hyannis, Mass. Federal agencies forged an agreement with CCH that included a $24 million fine for failure to appropriately screen patients for the procedure, an event that serves as a reminder that non-compliance with Medicare rules can trigger enforcement actions by other agencies.
The U.S. FDA has several methods for signaling its enforcement intentions regarding medical devices and drugs, but there are times when warning letters are the vectors for communicating the agency’s current thinking.
The U.S. FDA is not the only regulatory agency attempting to deal with impending and existing device and drug shortages, although some of the drivers of these shortages are not within these agencies’ purview.
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