FDA

Congressional letters sent to the CEOs of Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Merck, BMS and AbbVie this week voicing concerns about the pharmas’ clinical trials in China highlight an ongoing discrepancy in how government and industry think about the rise of the Asian country’s biotech industry.
FDA
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A recent FDA reversal sparked new hope for patients with Huntington’s disease. Flying under the radar, Skyhawk Therapeutics revealed 12-month functional data from a midstage trial of its own candidate showing improvements on a key disease measurement scale.
The FDA plans to hold an advisory committee meeting to discuss Capricor Therapeutics’ application for deramiocel, which the agency rejected last July. The news surprised CEO Linda Marbán, who told BioSpace the FDA has not communicated any issues of concern with the company’s resubmitted application.
When the variance can’t be modeled, even disciplined biotech investors stop deploying. Here’s the cheapest fix for biotech’s investability problem.
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BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics issued a statement Tuesday supporting a Citizens’ Petition submitted to the FDA requesting the approval of its cell therapy NurOwn, whose BLA was withdrawn in 2023. A Phase IIIb trial was scheduled to begin last month.
Ekterly’s road to approval was not a smooth one. Last month, the FDA informed KalVista it would not meet its PDUFA date due to resource constraints and reports surfaced that Commissioner Marty Makary tried to have the application rejected.
While it trails Johnson & Johnson’s Tecvayli, Regeneron still hopes Lynozyfic can differentiate in terms of dosing convenience and efficacy.
The safety update for Vyvgart rattled argenx’s shares on Monday, a reaction that analysts at William Blair said was “overdone.”
Analysts believe that Gilead’s new PrEP drug Yeztugo could reach peak sales of $4.5 billion. Not if GSK has anything to say about it.
Cell and gene therapy leaders say the agency’s decision to remove the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies that had been attached to approved CAR T cancer therapies reflects “thoughtful consideration of real-world evidence” and “regulatory trust.”
FDA
The FDA’s clunky launch of Elsa, an AI tool to increase efficiency, has sparked concern from agency employees and outside experts.
The FDA delivered two notable approvals for RSV immunization, UroGen overcame a negative advisory committee vote to secure an approval in bladder cancer, and more key regulatory nods from the past month.
The revamped and “more anti-vax skewed ACIP committee” at the CDC “has a bone to pick with mRNA vaccines,” according to Truist Securities analysts. Meanwhile, the FDA moves forward on having Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna update labels for their COVID vaccines.
The FDA found that data from a single Phase II study were “insufficient” to justify an accelerated approval review for sevasemten in Becker muscular dystrophy.