Instead of “Mother, may I” for COVID-19 vaccines for children 6 months through 5 years of age, the U.S. CDC is saying the correct response is “I should.” That was the recommendation June 18 from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky wasted no time in endorsing the recommendation, which came just a day after the FDA authorized the vaccines from Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc.-Biontech SE for babies, toddlers and preschoolers.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Abbvie, Biontech, Cytokinetics, Excellthera, Kazia, LG Chem, Moderna, Mydecine, Novartis, Obseva, Pfizer, Rhythm, Sierra, Theramex.
The U.S. FDA’s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee took up the complicated matter of Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s sNDA for Nuplazid (pimavanserin) to treat hallucinations and delusions associated with Alzheimer’s disease psychosis (ADP).
China will continue to ramp up volume-based procurement (VBP) policies that bring down drug and device prices for public hospitals with volume. Governmental agencies at the local and national levels coordinate drug prices via government-organized procurement programs that include VBP and pricing negotiations for inclusion on the National Reimbursable Drug List.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: ABVC, Hansa, Savara.
The U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is still considering a drastic overhaul of the 2002 medical device regulatory framework, but may have sent a signal that its new framework won’t deviate too far from established regulatory approaches. The agency reported June 16 that it has signed on with both the International Council for Harmonization (ICH) for drugs and the International Medical Device Regulators Forum (IMDRF) for devices, providing members of both industries with at least some modest confidence that access to the 67 million strong U.K. market won’t suffer from a new set of unique regulatory hurdles.
What was billed as a U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing June 16 to get an update from top government health officials on the nation’s response to COVID-19 was, in reality, a concerted effort to get Republicans in the U.S. Senate to open the checkbook so the Biden administration could fill in the amount for more COVID-19 spending, Ranking Member Richard Burr (R-N.C.) charged as he concluded the hearing.
In keeping with the 21st Century Cures Act, the U.S. FDA issued a draft guidance describing a standards recognition program for regenerative medicine therapies at the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research that’s intended to facilitate the development of the therapies and reduce the regulatory burden.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: 180, Biontech, Covis, Horizon, Jazz, Kintara, Moderna, Omega, Pfizer, Phanes, Redx.
After a two-day session of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biologic Products Advisory Committee, the U.S. is within days of a long-awaited milestone of having not just one but at least two vaccines available for nearly every American. The VRBPAC voted unanimously, 21-0, June 15 to support amending the emergency use authorizations for both the Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc.-Biontech SE COVID-19 mRNA vaccines to allow their use in children 6 months and older.