Since April 10, 2020, the FDA has issued emergency use authorizations (EUAs) to several companies that make blood purification devices that can clear excess cytokines in the blood of patients with COVID-19. Monmouth Junction, N.J.-based Cytosorbents Corp.; Lakewood, Colo.-based Terumo BCT Inc.; and Marker Therapeutics AG, a subsidiary of Marker AG, of Zug, Switzerland, have all recently received EUAs for use of their products in adults with confirmed COVID-19 infections who are admitted to intensive care.
When it comes to guidance on interchangeables, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) has some guidance for the FDA: Be more definite.
In order to redirect health care resources and protect patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, many drug companies have paused enrollment in some or all of their ongoing clinical trials. But patients still in the studies need to be followed for safety and efficacy, creating challenges for the industry.
The U.S. FDA’s routine guidance agenda may be badly disrupted by the COVID-19 outbreak, but the agency continues to pump out guidances and emergency use authorizations (EUAs) directed to the pandemic. While the FDA has included only one serological test under the diagnostic EUA paradigm, Rep. Diana DeGette penned a letter inquiring into when the agency intends to move more decisively on serological tests, arguing that the absence of action on this front endangers the nation’s economic health as well as the public’s health.
Following a priority review, partners Astrazeneca plc and Merck & Co. Inc. have gained a green light from the FDA for U.S. marketing of the oral MEK1/2 inhibitor Koselugo (selumetinib), the first FDA-approved treatment for the rare genetic disorder neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1).
LONDON – DNA Electronics Ltd. (DNAe) won a U.S. FDA breakthrough device designation for its semiconductor-based DNA sequencing technology Lidia-seq and for the first assay based on the platform, which will detect bloodstream infections and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes at point of care.
The FDA’s device center has resumed a more normal pace of warning letter issuance in recent months, and the latest batch posted to the warning letter website features warning letters to one device maker in Europe and three firms in Asia. One U.S. firm, Steiner Biotechnology LLC, of Henderson, Nev., also received a warning, however, which is the second the company has received since June 2017.
The U.S. FDA has granted breakthrough device designation to Vapotherm Inc. for its Oxygen Assist Module (OAM), for use with its Precision Flow assistive breathing systems. The new module is designed to aid clinicians in maintaining a targeted blood oxygen range in patients requiring oxygen therapy.
A little more than eight months after Pfizer Inc.'s $11.2 billion acquisition of Array Biopharma Inc., a combination of Array-developed Braftovi (encorafenib) and cetuximab has won FDA approval for the second-line treatment of adults with BRAF V600E-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), becoming the first approved therapy specifically targeting that mutation.
One simple four-letter word can make a world of difference in how quickly biosimilars and interchangeables bring full competition to the U.S. marketplace of biologics, a handful of companies and industry groups told the FDA in comments on a draft guidance concerning the labeling of follow-ons that are licensed for fewer indications than the reference biologic.
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