Jury trials for product liability litigation are not always the last stop for these lawsuits, but courts are more frequently banning device makers from presenting evidence related to premarket filings in these proceedings. One example of this was the pelvic mesh trial of McGinnis v. Bard, in which the trial judge allowed the plaintiff to make nearly two dozen references to the FDA without allowing rebuttal from counsel for the defense, thus biasing a jury that awarded the plaintiff $68 million without hearing the entirety of the evidence.
As expected, Mirum Pharmaceuticals Inc. won FDA clearance for Livmarli (maralixibat), a minimally absorbed ileal bile acid transporter inhibitor, for cholestatic pruritus in patients with the rare liver disease Alagille syndrome, 1 year of age and older.
The FDA unveiled a draft guidance addressing the responsibilities of clinical investigators for safety reporting for investigational drugs and devices, a novel attempt to combine the disparate adverse event reporting timelines for investigational drugs and devices.
With the FDA approval of Abbvie Inc.’s Qulipta (atogepant) to prevent episodic migraine in adults, the oral calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonist became the first specifically developed for preventing migraine.
As part of its real-world evidence (RWE) program, the U.S. FDA is issuing a draft guidance on using electronic health records and medical claims data in clinical trials to support a drug’s safety and effectiveness.
Thanks to a drop in the cost of conducting U.S. FDA reviews, it’s getting even cheaper to use a priority review voucher (PRV) to shave four months off the agency’s standard 10-month drug review.
Once upon a time, Intarcia Therapeutics Inc. was a biotech unicorn valued at $3.5 billion. Its allure was its implantable Medici drug delivery system that consisted of a mini pump about the size of a matchstick. But a unicorn’s life is never completely charmed. Intarcia faced obstacles along the way – two complete response letters from the U.S. FDA and the denials of three formal dispute resolution requests. Now it looks like this story won’t have a happy ending.
Nonagen Bioscience Corp. received FDA breakthrough device designation for its liquid biopsy assay designed to predict response to treatment for bladder cancer. The test, Oncuria, measures 10 protein biomarkers in a urine sample and uses an algorithm to predict whether patients will respond to Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), the first-line treatment for bladder cancer, or should proceed to another treatment option.
The FDA’s device center has been nudging electronic device submissions along for several years and has now posted a draft guidance related to the contents of those submissions. The agency said it will notify industry by Sept. 30, 2022, of the date upon which electronic submissions will be compulsory, although it will offer a one-year grace period for companies that have not yet gone fully electronic with their premarket submissions.
Selux Diagnostics Inc. has received breakthrough device designation from the FDA for its Next Generation Phenotyping (NGP) platform for positive blood culture and sterile body fluid samples. The NGP technology is a diagnostic platform designed to help with the delivery of personalized antimicrobial therapies within 24 hours. The Boston-based company is hoping the technology can tackle the global antibiotic resistance crisis. According to the World Health Organization, antimicrobial resistance is one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity.