The FDA’s ability, or lack thereof, to churn out guidances is not always the stuff of industrial outrage, but manufacturers of laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) systems might find the timing of a new draft guidance on the procedure somewhat odd. The draft guidance arrives nearly a decade and a half after an April 2008 advisory hearing.
Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. said it plans to file a BLA for its gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), SRP-9001, with the U.S. FDA, potentially setting up a decision in the first half of 2023 for the therapy developed in partnership with Switzerland’s Roche Holding AG. The Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech said the BLA will seek accelerated approval for the therapy, also known as delandistrogene moxeparvovec, for ambulant individuals with DMD.
The U.S. FDA gave the greenlight to Acufocus Inc. for its IC-8 Apthera intraocular lens (IOL) for the treatment of cataracts. Like most other IOLs implanted as part of cataract surgery, the small aperture Apthera provides excellent distance vision. It distinguishes itself by also providing clear intermediate and near vision, essentially eliminating the blurring of close objects or words common as people age and develop presbyopia.
It was bound to happen someday. With more and more prescription drugs coming to the U.S. market, the FDA is running out of unique combinations for the 10-digit national drug code given to each product.
The U.S. FDA handed good news to Healthy IO Ltd. (Healthy.io) with 510(k) clearance for its smartphone-based Minuteful Kidney test, making kidney function testing – from sample to result – possible at home. The app calculates the albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR), a key indicator of kidney disease. By enabling people to complete the test using their phones, the company says it has increased the rate of testing in high-risk patients by 50%.
The U.S. FDA has granted Alpheus Medical Inc. orphan drug and fast track designations for a therapeutic platform that could improve outcomes for patients suffering from recurrent glioblastoma (GBM), the most common primary brain cancer and among the hardest to treat.
Continuing its evaluation of cancer drugs already on the U.S. market, the FDA will convene its Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) Sept. 22 and 23 to consider two more approved drugs – Oncopeptides AB’s Pepaxto (melphalan flufenamide) and Secura Bio Inc.’s Copiktra (duvelisib).
The U.S. FDA’s latest draft guidance for premarket cybersecurity considerations expands considerably on the previous edition, and suggests that the manufacturer’s cybersecurity responsibilities include security in a health care facility’s network.
Rapid point-of-care (POC) diagnostics company Lumos Diagnostics Holdings Pty. Ltd. saw its stock plummet 65% on the news that the U.S. FDA rejected its Febridx 510(k) because the device was not substantially equivalent to the predicate device.