Medical devices have had to deal with a large body of uncertainty where patent protection is concerned, thanks principally to jurisprudence arising out of the Supreme Court. However, Mark Mansour, a regulatory attorney with the D.C. office of Dykema Gossett PLLC, said on a recent webinar that even in the absence of a patent, de novo devices can gain some market exclusivity with smart use of labeling, a practice that can help ensure that the developer can achieve the needed return on investment.
The second oral CGRP antagonist to win FDA approval for acute migraine care is now the first to add preventive treatment to its label, marking a valuable win for Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Co. Ltd. and its oral dissolving tablet, Nurtec (rimegepant). The U.S. approval, for preventive treatment of episodic migraine, officially blesses a use for the medicine already adopted by many doctors, Piper Sandler analyst Christopher Raymond wrote, while opening up a potentially rich new stream of revenue for Biohaven.
Bristol Myers Squibb Co. said the FDA has approved Zeposia (ozanimod) as the first and only oral sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor modulator for the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC). The medicine, first FDA-approved in March 2020 for certain adults with multiple sclerosis, can now be used to treat patients with moderately to severely active UC.
Lantheus Holdings Inc. has snagged FDA approval for Pylarify (piflufolastat F 18), a PET imaging agent for the identification of suspected metastasis or recurrence of prostate cancer. The company said the product will be available immediately in the mid-Atlantic and southern regions, with availability across the U.S. by the end of 2021.
The FDA’s Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee (EMDAC) voted 10-7 May 27 that the benefits of Provention Bio Inc.’s teplizumab outweighed its risks, but the vote was not a ringing endorsement of the anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody biologic that could be the first disease-modifying treatment for people at risk of developing type 1 diabetes (T1D).
There are now two FDA-backed monoclonal antibody COVID-19 treatments after the agency granted Glaxosmithkline plc (GSK) emergency use authorization (EUA) for single-dose sotrovimab to treat mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and children as young as 12. Vir Biotechnology Inc. collaborated on the program.
In an effort to address the longstanding issues with medical device manufacturers failing to comply with Section 522 postmarket surveillance studies, the FDA is looking to revamp 2016 policies in new draft guidance issued on Wednesday. A separate FDA draft document seeks to update guidance on post-approval study requirements for high-risk devices with new policies on procedures and submissions.
Woebot Labs Inc. got a bit of a pick-me-up with the FDA's decision to grant breakthrough device designation to the company's digital therapeutic for postpartum depression. The WB001 app combines cognitive behavioral therapy with interpersonal psychotherapy and an understanding of how postpartum depression affects interactions and daily life. The investigational treatment is designed as an eight-week, prescription-only intervention for women under a physician’s care.
With the global COVID-19 pandemic and variants raising expectations about the need for booster shots, more companies are jumping into the vaccine space. But unless those sponsors have been engaging “in an ongoing manner” with the U.S. FDA on developing the manufacturing process and clinical trial program for their vaccine candidates, their emergency use authorization (EUA) requests may be denied, according to a new FDA guidance on EUAs for COVID-19 vaccines.
Two weeks after Pfizer Inc.-Biontech SE’s mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine received emergency use authorization (EUA) for adolescents ages 12 to 15, the first in that age group, Moderna Inc.’s mRNA vaccine has hit the primary immunogenicity endpoint in its phase II/III study of participants ages 12 through 17.