FDA
As Novo Nordisk cuts 400 jobs at the troubled site, Scholar Rock has seen enough progress that it included the facility in a resubmission for FDA approval.
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Draft guidance, issued by the FDA last week, could remove ambiguity and uncertainty that may have so far limited uptake of new approach methodologies, experts told BioSpace,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.
Although FDA Commissioner Marty Makary promised “an exciting treatment” for autism, what the agency delivered was a label expansion for leucovorin to treat the ultrarare cerebral folate deficiency. The regulatory process, which relied on a literature review rather than new evidence, stands in contrast to recent rare disease rejections in which the FDA cited a need for more rigorous evidence.
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Last week, the FDA made its one pivotal trial policy official, sparking myriad questions from industry leaders, including around specific evidence required for the single study and why it hasn’t been implemented across all therapeutic areas before now.
The rejection of Atara Biotherapeutics’ Ebvallo in January was a “complete reversal” of the conesensus FDA reviewers had come to, according to a former agency employee, who said manufacturing problems were the only approvability barrier for the drug.
Regulators overseeing rare disease treatments need better tools to weigh competing risks in real time. Sarepta Therapeutics’ Elevidys is a prime example of why.
In August last year, the Health Department cut around $500 million in mRNA research funding, with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. saying the agency would instead divert the money “toward safer, broader vaccine platforms.”
The framework, first introduced by FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research head Vinay Prasad in November, was criticized for lacking detailed guidance. Agency leaders elucidated on the pathway for personalized medicines on Monday.
Bysanti is based on iloperidone, an active metabolite of a compound that forms the core of Fanapt, another drug by Vanda Pharmaceuticals.
Following the FDA’s refusal to review Moderna’s investigational mRNA flu vaccine last week, Commissioner Marty Makary faced questions from the U.S. president about the agency’s handling of vaccines. It’s a clear signal that the tension long brewing at the drug regulator has now gone all the way to the top.
Tracy Beth Høeg addressed FDA staffers for the first time in her role as the fifth CDER chief under President Donald Trump, announcing inquiries into the use of SSRIs in pregnancy and RSV antibodies in infants despite well-documented safety of these treatments.
Drug sponsors should nevertheless bolster their application with “confirmative evidence,” chief regulators Marty Makary and Vinay Prasad said on Wednesday, including mechanistic data or findings from related indications or animal models.
FDA vouchers are normally a coveted prize for biopharma companies, but a surprise rejection for Disc Medicine’s rare disease drug has biopharma reconsidering.