Even though COVID-19 is transitioning from pandemic to endemic across the world, it will remain first in mind as U.S. lawmakers look to reauthorize the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA) this year to ensure the country is better prepared for future threats. With a Sept. 30 deadline for reauthorizing PAHPA, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee has its work cut out for it. But it won’t be starting from scratch. In opening a May 4 hearing on the reauthorization, HELP Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said the committee would build on the efforts started last year under then-Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and now-retired Ranking Member Richard Burr (R-N.C.).
Suzhou Genassist Therapeutic Co. Ltd. has announced its pre-IND application of its first base-editing product, GEN-6050, and acceptance by the FDA. GEN-6050 is an in vivo base-editing drug that targets exon 50 skipping in the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene.
In a draft guidance released May 2, the U.S. FDA provided recommendations for sponsors, investigators and other stakeholders for implementation of decentralized clinical trials to advance research in medical devices, drugs and biologics.
With the COVID-19 public health emergency ending in the U.S. next week, Congress is looking to use the lessons learned from the pandemic to draft a new iteration of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act to ensure the country is better prepared for the next pandemic.
Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. has received FDA clearance of its IND application to support a phase I trial with TNX-1500, an anti-CD40L monoclonal antibody. The first indication Tonix is seeking for TNX-1500 is the prevention of organ rejection in patients receiving a kidney transplant. Enrollment in the phase I study is expected to open in the third quarter of this year.
The U.S. FDA has approved the country’s first-ever respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, Arexvy, from GSK plc. The adjuvanted vaccine is also the first for older adults anywhere on the planet. GSK now has a head start to vaccinate the U.S. market, but other big companies, such as Sanofi SA and especially Pfizer Inc., are in late-stage development and will pose strong challenges in the coming year. Pfizer’s PF-0692831/RSVpreF, an RSV vaccine for treating lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV, has a priority BLA with a May 31 PDUFA date.
While the U.S. continues to call out other countries for weak enforcement of intellectual property rights, trade secret theft and forced technology transfers in the life sciences sector, some companies in the sector claim similar things are happening in the U.S. In its 2023 Special 301 Report, released April 26, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) noted “the growing need for trading partners to provide effective protection and enforcement of trade secrets.”
Onquality Pharmaceuticals LLC has received FDA clearance of its IND application for OQL-036, a potential prophylactic treatment for capecitabine-induced hand-foot syndrome (HFS).
Atsena Therapeutics Inc.’s IND application for ATSN-201 has been cleared by the FDA enabling the company to initiate a phase I/II trial in patients with X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS) caused by pathogenic or likely pathogenic mutations in RS1.
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