Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) approved a slew of new drugs in the last week of September, including Japan’s first sustained release GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist for type 2 diabetes from Eli Lilly and Co. and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp.; a self-administered injectable drug for rheumatoid arthritis from Eisai Co. Ltd. and Nippon Medac Co. Ltd.; a CAR T from Legend Biotech Corp. and Janssen Pharmaceutical KK; and two drugs from Astrazeneca plc, one in asthma and the other in pediatric plexiform neurofibromas in neurofibromatosis type 1.
Analysts were upbeat about positive results from Eisai Co Ltd. and Biogen Inc.’s phase III confirmatory Clarity Alzheimer’s disease (AD) trial of lecanemab that met both primary and secondary endpoints, and most agreed that the data should be enough to gain FDA approval for mild cognitive impairment due to AD.
The U.S. FDA has approved Taiho Oncology Inc.’s Lytgobi (futibatinib) for adults with previously treated, unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma harboring fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR-2) gene fusions or other rearrangements. The approval arrived on its Sept. 30 PDUFA date.
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) approved a slew of new drugs in the last week of September, including Japan’s first sustained release GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist for type 2 diabetes from Eli Lilly and Co. and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp.; a self-administered injectable drug for rheumatoid arthritis from Eisai Co. Ltd. and Nippon Medac Co. Ltd.; a CAR T from Legend Biotech Corp. and Janssen Pharmaceutical KK; and two drugs from Astrazeneca plc, one in asthma and the other in pediatric plexiform neurofibromas in neurofibromatosis type 1.
Fujifilm Healthcare Europe received the European CE mark for its next-generation therapeutic linear array ultrasound endoscope, the EG-740UT, designed for complex diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic ultrasound procedures.
Analysts were upbeat about positive results from Eisai Co Ltd. and Biogen Inc.’s phase III confirmatory Clarity Alzheimer’s disease (AD) trial of lecanemab that met both primary and secondary endpoints, and most agreed that the data should be enough to gain FDA approval for mild cognitive impairment due to AD.
Researchers at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Melbourne, Australia, have developed a new genome editing technique than can activate any gene, including those that have been silenced, allowing new drug targets and causes of drug resistance to be explored.
The U.S. FDA approved Santen Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s and UBE Industries Ltd.’s Omlonti (omidenepag isopropyl) ophthalmic solution for reducing elevated intraocular pressure in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension. It is the second FDA-approved product from Japan-based Santen in the last 15 months for patients in the U.S. with vision conditions.
Polaris Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s pegargiminase (pegylated arginine deiminase/ADI-PEG 20) met the primary endpoint of a statistically significant improvement in overall survival and the secondary endpoint of significant improvement in progression-free survival in patients enrolled in the pivotal phase II/III Atomic study in malignant pleural mesothelioma.
Inspectors from the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) have reportedly arrived in Hong Kong to inspect audit records for the Chinese companies listed by the U.S. SEC as being noncompliant with U.S. accounting standards.
