Children with solid tumors who relapse are being treated with the same chemotherapy they would have been given 40 years ago, as “there have been no major approvals for pediatric solid tumors,” Catherine Bollard, senior vice president and chief research officer at Children’s National Hospital, said at a June 5 FDA roundtable on cell and gene therapies (CGTs). The problem isn’t the science. Bollard said many groups are working on curative CGTs “for these children who have lost all other hope for survival.” The real gap is that “big pharma doesn’t see the business model because it’s a rare disease,” she added.
The U.S. FDA gave Sarepta Therapeutics Inc.’s rAAVrh74 viral vector, used in an investigational gene therapy for the treatment of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, a step up, making it one of the first platforms to receive the agency’s platform technology designation.
The U.S. FDA reported the launch of its in-house generative AI (GenAI) tool, dubbed Elsa, for a variety of purposes. FDA commissioner Marty Makary assuaged industry’s privacy concerns by promising that the algorithm does not train on data submitted by makers of devices and pharmaceuticals.
Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. and Merck & Co. Inc. have voluntarily pulled the BLA for accelerated approval tied to their HER3-directed antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) in treating EGFR-mutated non-small-cell lung cancer. The partnership in the expanding ADC space began nearly two years ago in a $22 billion deal.
CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. on May 30 disclosed that the company was engaged in ongoing negotiations with unnamed, independent third parties regarding three license deals and collaborations that could total up to $5 billion combined.
Erasca Inc. has obtained IND clearance by the FDA for ERAS-4001, an oral selective pan-KRAS inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with KRAS-mutant solid tumors.
The U.S. FDA’s decision to grant breakthrough device designation for Bivacor Inc.’s titanium total artificial heart (TAH) sent real hearts aflutter at the Huntington, Calif.-based company’s headquarters. While the designation supports use of the TAH as a bridge to transplant for adults with biventricular or univentricular heart failure for whom current options are insufficient or unsuitable, Bivacor hopes its device will eventually serve as a long-term heart replacement.
The Trump administration released its budget proposal for fiscal year 2026, which would chop roughly 40% from the NIH budget over the current fiscal year — a proposal that might not find much support on Capitol Hill.
The U.S. FDA declined to appeal the outcome of a lawsuit eviscerating the agency’s final rule for regulation of lab-developed tests despite a 60-day window to do so.
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