FDA
Aiming to protect patients, the FDA sent lawmakers a wish list of legislative proposals intended to clarify and expand its oversight of updates to approved drug production processes.
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The FDA has some big verdicts lined up in the second quarter, including one for a closely watched obesity drug that many anticipate will further intensify competition in weight loss.
Draft guidance, issued by the FDA last week, could remove ambiguity and uncertainty that may have so far limited uptake of new approach methodologies, experts told BioSpace, particularly emphasizing the agency’s recommendations around defining NAMs’ regulatory purpose.
The FDA’s Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher program, unveiled in June 2025, is “shrouded in secrecy,” Democratic representative Jake Auchincloss said last month, as regulatory and biopharma leaders try to decode the criteria for investigational or approved drugs to receive a voucher.
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Perhaps the most interesting of the pile of FDA rejection letters was for Lykos Therapeutics’ MDMA therapy. Letters sent to Stealth BioTherapeutics, Regeneron and more were also released as the agency also promised future CRLs “promptly after they are issued to sponsors.”
While the new framework signals continued flexibility at the FDA regarding rare disease approvals, some analysts and advocates question what tangible impacts the new guidelines will have.
In a series of memos last week, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Director Vinay Prasad outlined the FDA’s thinking on the recent limited approvals for updated COVID-19 vaccines.
Paul Offit, longtime member of the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee and an outspoken critic of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was recently informed by the Department of Health and Human Services that his services are no longer required.
While the approval of Leqembi Iqlik bodes well for Biogen and Eisai’s planned application for a subcutaneous induction regimen next year, its financial impact remains “uncertain,” as potentially higher revenues from the injection could be offset by steeper costs of production, according to Jefferies.
Aside from the rare disease market, Novo Nordisk also scored a key regulatory win last month for its blockbuster GLP-1 drug Wegovy, which can now be used to treat patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.
With a flurry of recent Big Pharma investment in radiopharmaceutical therapeutics, the FDA issued draft guidance last month in a move former FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn sees as the regulator “trying to get ahead on a new set of therapy that they see becoming very important for cancer.”
In December 2024, Teva also secured FDA approval for the other liraglutide brand Victoza, indicated for type 2 diabetes.
The American Academy of Pediatrics called the decision to limit children’s access to COVID-19 vaccines “deeply troubling.”
Earlier this month, the FDA backed off on a pause in shipments of the chikungunya vaccine Ixchiq to older adults. Now, the regulator has reversed course.