Another PD-1 antibody is about to hit the U.S. market, following the FDA’s accelerated approval of dostarlimab (TSR-042) from partners Anaptysbio Inc. and Glaxosmithkline plc. But dostarlimab, branded Jemperli, will be only one of two PD-1 drugs indicated for endometrial cancer, going up against Merck & Co. Inc.’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab).

HONG KONG – Celltrion Inc. continues its quest to take its Diatrust COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test overseas, after receiving the FDA’s emergency use authorization (EUA). The Incheon, South Korea-based company also submitted results of clinical trials in which 450 people throughout the U.S. were tested between February and March 2021 to the regulator, with the trial results currently under review.

The FDA reported a new streamlined pathway for diagnostic testing as part of a serial testing program using pooled samples, a pathway that should enable the further reopening of the economy. However, the FDA’s Tim Stenzel said April 21 that this new pathway relied on accumulated data for molecular testing, and that the agency lacks sufficient data to provide a similar mechanism for this use of antigen tests.

In addition to safety questions about its COVID-19 vaccine, Johnson & Johnson is facing manufacturing challenges as a key partner, Emergent Biosolutions Inc., has yet to get FDA approval to manufacture or distribute the vaccine or its components in the U.S. That approval could be awhile in coming. On April 21, a day after completing its onsite inspection of Emergent’s Bayview plant in Baltimore, Md., the FDA released Form 483 from its inspection, revealing nine observations related to cross-contamination issues, lack of employee training and poorly designed and maintained facilities.

The negotiations for the next medical device user fee agreement are well underway, but the FDA is pressing the case for a substantial increase in device user fees. While the controversy over the cost of each addition to the FDA staff has not gone away, the agency continues to compare device user fees to drug user fees even though the drug industry is populated by much larger companies, thus nullifying any such comparisons in the view of device makers.

Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. has won the FDA’s nod for its Rosa Partial Knee system for robotically assisted partial knee arthroscopy. The new system is the latest addition to the Rosa Robotics platform, which also includes the Rosa Knee system for total knee replacement and Rosa One for neurosurgical and spine procedures. The Rosa Partial Knee system is designed to be compatible with Zimmer’s Personal partial knee. It incorporates 2D to 3D X-Atlas imaging technology and real-time, intraoperative data collection on both soft tissue and bone anatomies to ensure accurate bone cuts and improve range of motion gap analysis.

The FDA lost another hearing in the lawsuit filed against the agency by Genus Medical Technologies LLC in a case that yet again resurrects the product classification question. Both courts that heard the lawsuit asserted that the FDA does not enjoy unfettered discretion to classify a device as a drug merely as part of its authority under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA).

Agnovos Healthcare LLC, a company using regenerative medicine to treat localized effects of bone disease, has received the FDA’s nod for an IDE clinical trial to assess its AGN1 local osteo-enhancement procedure (LOEP) small-volume (SV) kit in patients with vertebral compression fractures (VCFs). The investigational device is intended to treat stable but painful VCFs via a minimally invasive procedure. The kit, which comes in the form of two single-use trays, contains a calcium-based, resorbable, triphasic implant material that is designed to align the pace of resorption with bone formation, providing treated vertebrae with immediate and durable protection.