There is now more clarity on the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, as serum antibodies produced by three doses of the Pfizer Inc.-Biontech SE COVID-19 vaccine have been shown to neutralize it. The data arrived a day after Glaxosmithkline plc and Vir Biotechnology Inc. said the monoclonal antibody sotrovimab retains activity against key mutations of the Omicron variant, including those found in sotrovimab’s binding site.
Reata Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s hopes, as well as those of many people living with Alport syndrome, were dashed Dec. 8 when the FDA’s 13-member Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee voted unanimously that the available evidence doesn’t show that the benefits of bardoxolone methyl outweighed its risks in treating the rare genetic condition.
Although Pfizer Inc.’s COVID-19 oral antiviral candidate, Paxlovid (PF-07321332; ritonavir), has yet to be authorized anywhere, the push for compulsory licensing of the drug has begun.
John Klein, the former CEO and majority shareholder of a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company, was charged Dec. 6 with one count of wire fraud involving the alleged embezzlement of millions of dollars from the unnamed company.
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp.'s Medicago Inc. plans to "imminently" seek Health Canada approval for its plant-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate, MT-2766, after top-line phase III results showed an overall vaccine efficacy rate of 71% against all variants of SARS-CoV-2.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Cyprium, Enlivex, Gan & Lee, Octapharma, Roche, Sentynl, Theratechnologies, Vincerx.
With the $2 trillion Build Back Better spending bill held up in the U.S. Senate, President Joe Biden took to his public microphone Dec. 6 to call on senators to pass the bill that will permit Medicare negotiation of certain prescription drug prices, impose an excise tax on drug companies that raise the price of their products beyond inflation and set a monthly cap on cost-sharing for insulin.
Beigene Ltd. has received approval from China’s NMPA to market Sylvant (siltuximab) for the treatment of patients with multicentric Castleman disease, including HIV-negative and human herpes virus-8-negative disease. The green light comes at a good time as the Beijing-headquartered company is preparing for a $3.5 billion listing on Shanghai’s STAR Market, its third listing. The monoclonal antibody siltuximab previously received regulatory approval in the U.S. and Europe.
The release of the FDA’s briefing document for a Dec. 8 meeting of its Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee triggered heavy trading and a 38% drop in value in Reata Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Plano, Texas.
Pharmaceutical companies in China will cut the prices for more than five dozen drugs by an average of 61.7% to get them on the latest version of the country’s National Drug Reimbursement List. The National Healthcare Security Administration released the new list on Dec. 3, 2021. The new list includes 74 new drugs, the vast majority of which are branded products without generic versions in China. Only seven of the new drugs on the list have generic versions.
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