Shares of Pharvaris NV (NASDAQ:PHVS) fell 34% Aug. 22 to close at $12.15 after the company reported the U.S. FDA placed a clinical hold on PHA-121, its oral bradykinin B2-receptor antagonist for hereditary angioedema (HAE), citing a review of nonclinical data. PHA-121, which goes after the same target as well-established injectable HAE drug Firazyr (icatibant, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.), is the active ingredient in Pharvaris’ two lead programs: PHVS-416, a softgel capsule formulation, and PHVS-719, an extended-release tablet formulation.
It’s a step forward and a step back at Pfizer Inc. Even as Pfizer and its partner Biontech SE finished filing an emergency use authorization application with the U.S. FDA seeking to field an updated booster dose of their omicron COVID vaccine, the regulator has made a request of its own, for more data on the company's oral antiviral, Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir + ritonavir), for treating COVID-19. An Aug. 5, 2022, letter from the FDA stipulates post-EUA requirements for Paxlovid, including that Pfizer conduct a trial in patients with a relapse of COVID symptoms, longhand for a “rebound,” after an initial Paxlovid treatment course.
After nearly four decades as director of the U.S. NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), 81-year-old Anthony Fauci will be stepping down in December. He also announced Aug. 22 that he will be handing over the reins as chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation and as chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Aeglea, Axsome, Celltrion, Krystal, Kyowa Kirin, Menarini, Stemline, Valneva, Verona, Virfor.
A year from the U.S. FDA’s August 2021 citation of deficiencies in the labeling for Axsome Therapeutics Inc.’s major depressive disorder therapy, Auvelity (dextromethorphan + bupropion), the agency has approved the drug for use by adults. The New York-based company’s stock (NASDAQ:AXSM) took flight on the news, with shares rising 40% to close at $59.55 Aug. 19, surpassing their previous 52-week high of $48.82 and starkly contrasting with a same-period low of $19.38.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: ABVC, Astellas, Aum, Biocryst, Curis, Genfleet, Junshi, Novavax, Oncopeptides, Otsuka.
It pays to read the details of patent specifications. By keeping the pH range of its generic vasopressin injection at least 0.01 below that specified for Vasostrict, Eagle Pharmaceuticals Inc. cleared itself from claims that it had infringed two key patents protecting the brand drug.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Arrowhead, Cybin, Enlivex, GSK, Novavax, Omeros, Organon, Otsuka, Redhill, Samsumg, SK.
An Emergent Biosolutions Inc. facility in Baltimore is under U.S. FDA scrutiny after a February 2022 inspection revealed manufacturing problems, some of which resulted in multiple customer complaints.
Regardless of the grading scale, the U.S. NIH would have gotten an “F” for its failure to ensure that intramural and extramural clinical trials it funded complied with government reporting requirements in 2019 and 2020.