U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is getting more pressure to take the unprecedented step of marching in on the patent rights protecting Astellas Pharma Inc.’s prostate cancer drug, Xtandi (enzalutamide), because of its U.S. price. Referencing the provision under the Bayh-Dole Act that allows federal agencies to march in on licensed patents stemming from federally funded research when the products are not available to the public on “reasonable terms,” a dozen Democratic congressional members wrote to Becerra Feb. 8 urging him to move forward on the Xtandi patents.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Alzecure, Angelini, Destiny, Eyenovia, Nicox, Novo Nordisk.
The Feb. 10 meeting of the U.S. FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) is about far more than one biologic license application (BLA), as the single question the agency will put to the committee is whether data from a trial in one foreign country are sufficient to support approval in the U.S.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Ascletis, Azurity, Biogen, Celltrion, Everest, Gilead, GW, Jazz, NGM, Obseva, RDIF, Sanofi, Sinomab.
The U.S. FDA appears to be on a roll when it comes to rolling out new guidance pertaining to prescription drugs. In recent days, the agency has released draft guidances on antibody-drug conjugates and immunogenicity information in labeling, revised a draft guidance on assessing pressor effects of drugs and finalized a guidance on population pharmacokinetics.
As the U.S. FDA struggles to meet a massive court-ordered release of documents related to its approval of the Pfizer Inc.-Biontech SE COVID-19 vaccine, it could help itself by being more proactive in publicly releasing documents related to the approval and labeling of prescription drugs, according to a U.S. regulatory expert.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Cytokinetics, Mylan Laboratories, Novavax, RDIF, Revolo, Roche, TG, Tiziana, Viatris.
The U.S. FDA has approved Sanofi SA’s treatment for cold agglutinin disease (CAD), sutimlimab, after the drug was initially rejected by the regulator for technical reasons in 2020. Paris-based Sanofi’s drug will be branded as Enjaymo.
In one of its familiar U-turns, the U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended NHS England should fund a rare disease gene therapy from Orchard Therapeutics plc, considered to be the world’s most expensive drug. The list price for Libmeldy (atidarsagene autotemcel) in England and Wales is £2,875,000 (US$3.9 million), making it the most expensive drug that NICE has ever evaluated.
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has unanimously recommended the agency endorse administering Moderna Inc.'s COVID-19 vaccine, Spikevax (elasomeran), to adults. The vote was a strong echo of the FDA’s full approval of the vaccine for adults only a few days earlier, on Jan. 31. After hearing safety and efficacy data from Moderna and an internal analysis of that data from the CDC, ACIP recommended by a vote of 13-0 that the CDC endorse the vaccine’s use for people 18 years and older.
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