Weighing in on the side of 21 drug and device companies accused of knowingly aiding and abetting terrorist attacks against U.S. troops and civilians in Iraq from 2005 to 2011, the U.S. solicitor general is asking the Supreme Court to grant the companies’ petition for cert and then vacate a 2022 appellate court decision in Joshua Atchley v. Astrazeneca plc, remanding it for reconsideration in light of a related opinion the justices handed down a year ago.
A woman who allegedly made nearly $300,000 last year on insider trading based on undisclosed information about a pending biopharma acquisition will have to disgorge her profits, along with interest, to the U.S. Treasury, but she will face no other penalties.
In lieu of pending guidance, the U.S. FDA’s approval May 20 of Biocon Biologics Ltd.’s Yesafili and Samsung Bioepis Co. Ltd.’s Opuviz as interchangeable biosimilars to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s Eylea (aflibercept) provides further insight into how the agency is approaching the market exclusivity the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act awards to the first approved interchangeable for any given biologic.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has no rulemaking authority over the 340B prescription drug discount program, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said May 21 as it handed the government its second big loss in the ongoing debate over whether drug manufacturers have to give unlimited contract pharmacies the steep discounts the program provides to certain health care providers.
The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) once again called out the usual cast of characters in this year’s Special 301 Report for not playing by the rules when it comes to protecting intellectual property. And once again, industry asked the USTR to go further by placing new players on the list.
Shaking up corporate and pipeline structure, San Diego-based cancer developer Erasca Inc. in-licensed two assets from China-based biopharmas in all-cash deals, while laying off 18% of its workforce, primarily in drug discovery. The flurry of announcements made on May 16, which included $160 million raised in private placement, showed that Erasca would scrap three existing pipeline assets – ERAS-007, ERAS-801 and ERAS-4 – and reshape development to a RAS-targeting franchise.
Citing the need to protect the public interest, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ordered an immediate government-wide funding suspension May 15 of Ecohealth Alliance Inc. while formal debarment proceedings are pending against the New York-based nongovernmental organization.
The FTC’s request for a nearly 25% increase in funding for fiscal 2025 was splashed with cold water May 15 in a U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee hearing. That’s “a dramatic increase in funding for an agency whose work continues to raise concerns among many members of Congress and the public,” Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio), chair of the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, said as he opened the hearing.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is rethinking its proposed “stacking rule” for determining best price in the Medicaid program.
