FDA
Analysts called the approval a much-needed win for Novo Nordisk, but warned that the company could struggle to grow sales once rival drugs come to market.
FEATURED STORIES
Representatives of companies including AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson and Merck have voiced concerns about the FDA’s approach to pre-approval inspections.
With notable therapies from Biogen, Sarepta and MacroGenics failing to show efficacy in pivotal or confirmatory trials, experts question the use of biomarker evidence for approval while one former regulator insists that a “failed trial is not a failed drug.”
Coming up in the back half of December, the FDA will issue a verdict on Vanda Pharmaceuticals’ gastroparesis drug tradipitant, which it rejected last September, triggering a very public dispute with the company.
Subscribe to ClinicaSpace
Clinical trial results, research news, the latest in cancer and cell and gene therapy, in your inbox every Monday
THE LATEST
While Merck lost out to Pfizer earlier this year in snapping up Seagen, this week the company closed a deal worth a potential $22 billion with Daiichi Sankyo—further evidence of the industry’s insatiable appetite for ADC technology.
Following a delay and an initial rejection, UCB’s IL-17A/IL-17F blocker bimekizumab was approved for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, which will now be marketed with the brand name Bimzelx.
The complement inhibitor won the FDA’s approval for the treatment of generalized myasthenia gravis, a rare autoimmune disease. The therapy will be sold under the brand name Zilbrysq.
The company’s resubmission succeeded in getting the greenlight for tenapanor, now to be marketed as Xphozah, to lower serum phosphorus levels in chronic kidney disease patients.
The blockbuster PD-1 inhibitor’s label expanded further on Monday when the FDA greenlit Keytruda as a perioperative treatment for certain patients with earlier stages of non-small cell lung cancer.
The regulator approved the combination of Pfizer’s Braftovi and Mektovi for the treatment of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer in adult patients with a BRAF V600E mutation.
The regulator’s approval of oral, once-daily etrasimod, to be marketed as Velsipity, was based on favorable Phase III safety and efficacy data showing significant clinical remission of ulcerative colitis.
The Swiss pharma continues its winning streak with the FDA’s approval of the intravenous formulation of Cosentyx for ankylosing spondylitis, axial spondyloarthritis and psoriatic arthritis.
Recent FDA approvals of novel drugs based on less-than-stellar clinical evidence point to a trend toward regulatory flexibility—particularly in indications with very high unmet need.
Thursday’s approval comes after the FDA pushed back the target action dates for Amicus’ Biologics License Application in May, allowing the regulator more time to review the company’s submitted data.