The U.S. FDA’s Jan. 5 approval of Florida’s plan to import prescription drugs from Canada to take advantage of their lower price triggered ongoing communication between senior U.S. officials and Canada’s Ministry of Health over Canadian concerns about maintaining sufficient drug supplies.
With its approval Jan. 5 of Florida’s drug importation program, the U.S. FDA ended a 23-year wait for the government to implement a 2000 provision allowing certain prescription drug imports from Canada.
In an effort to standardize prescription practices across Canada, help Canadians afford their medicines and improve access to health data, the government is investing an additional $89.5 million over the next five years to establish the Canadian Drug Agency.
Ankyra Therapeutics Inc. has received approval of its IND application by the FDA and its clinical trial application (CTA) by Health Canada for its lead agent, ANK-101, a novel tumor-directed anchored immune medicine.
Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc. has received clearance from Health Canada to proceed with a first-in-human trial in Canada using oral ARDS-003 (onternabez) to treat various immunomodulatory conditions. Oral ARDS-003 is positioned to modulate acute systemic inflammation and prevent sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and organ damage.
In light of the growing interest in the use of psilocybin, MDMA and other psychedelics in psychotherapy, Health Canada issued a notice spelling out how licensed providers can obtain the drugs through the agency’s special access program on a case-by-case basis.
FSD Pharma Inc. has received a no objection letter (NOL) from Health Canada granting regulatory approval to commence a phase I trial of LUCID-21-302 (Lucid-MS), a novel drug candidate for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS).
Amylyx Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s amyotrophic lateral sclerosis candidate, AMX-0035, will get a rare second bite at the adcom apple Sept. 7. This time around, the Cambridge, Mass.-based company is looking to improve on its first performance by stressing the survival benefit of its drug.
In the hope of preventing thousands of hospitalizations and deaths over the next few months, the U.S. CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP) voted 13-1 Sept. 1 to recommend the use of Moderna Inc.’s and Pfizer Inc.-Biontech SE’s updated vaccines that contain components of both the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and the omicron BA.4/5 subvariants as boosters.
Amylyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. got good news when the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review posted a revised evidence report Aug. 4 that assessed the comparative clinical effectiveness and value of the company’s AMX-0035 and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America Inc.’s Radicava (edaravone) in treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.