FDA
The FDA issued a rare Refusal-to-File letter to Moderna over its mRNA-based influenza vaccine application, in an unusual move that sent the biotech’s shares tumbling.
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The Senate failed to pass a massive spending bill on Thursday—which includes the rare pediatric PRV program but also funding for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s large-scale crackdown in Minnesota and other states.
Some 200 rare disease therapies are at risk of losing eligibility for a pediatric priority review voucher, a recent analysis by the Rare Disease Company Coalition shows. That could mean $4 billion in missed revenue for already cash-strapped biotechs.
Together with robust data-driven modeling, rethinking regulation and data use could push forward a notoriously challenging field.
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The reinstatement of the generic drug policy office is the latest reversal of course for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s HHS, which also recently rehired FDA staff responsible for making travel arrangements and those involved in user fee program negotiations.
Vaccine skepticism is at an all-time high in the U.S., and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is making some drastic moves in the name of reversing that trend. But misinformation and inconsistencies within the country’s healthcare agencies highlight problems with his approach.
In a roundtable event on Thursday, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said his office will work to eliminate barriers that keep cell and gene therapies from the market.
Analysts reacted positively to the news that uniQure is in alignment with the FDA on an accelerated approval pathway and on target for a Q1 2026 submission for its one-time gene therapy for Huntington’s disease—but patients have been here before.
The Platform Technology Designation, which predates the current FDA leadership, is designed to streamline the drug development and review process, particularly for rare diseases.
The FDA plans to “rapidly make available” rare disease drugs and make use of surrogate endpoints to get promising medicines to patients before they clear the traditional efficacy bar for authorization, Prasad said Tuesday.
Jefferies analysts said the approval was largely expected and an “incremental positive” for Moderna amid questions about the FDA’s attitude toward mRNA and COVID-19 vaccines that have investors worried.
The overturning of the FDA’s lab-developed tests rule is just the tip of the iceberg. With the loss of Chevron deference, power has shifted from federal agencies to the courts, with potential implications for everything from the FDA shortage list to CMS drug price negotiations.
Arguably the most notable of the FDA’s upcoming decisions is that regarding Gilead’s twice-yearly HIV prophylaxis lenacapavir.
Here’s how companies can ensure they’re in compliance with new requirements that go into effect in August.