FDA

Regulatory challenges have been even more top of mind than usual given recent upheaval at the FDA. BioSpace spoke to three industry experts about key issues, which include applying new artificial intelligence guidance. The experts also shared advice for working with regulators.
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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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Experts suggest the FDA’s Advanced Manufacturing Technologies designation could be a lifeline for improving production processes for approved cell and gene therapies.
A source familiar with the matter said the White House initially requested the resignation of Sanjula Jain-Nagpal, a policy and research official at the FDA.
FDA
Since July, several biotechs have been forced to pivot as previous agreements with the FDA around evidence required for approval were reversed, a phenomenon that, according to experts, could portend a more restrictive regulator.
The regulator has received reports that a group of patients treated with Adzynma had neutralizing antibodies against the protein the therapy replaces.
After revoking Sarepta’s award in July and awarding one to Krystal last month, the FDA’s platform technology designation program appears to be back on track. These six biotechs could be on the regulator’s radar.
A new analysis from Jefferies shows that drugs receiving breakthrough designations sail through the regulatory process more quickly, on top of frequently winning approval.
The nod brings Bayer face-to-face in the market with Boehringer Ingelheim and AstraZeneca, each of which has its own HER2 blocker for non-small cell lung cancer.
The approvals come as a pleasant surprise for Regeneron, analysts say, helping bolster the overall product profile of high-dose Eylea despite outstanding manufacturing concerns.
The FDA approval of the siRNA drug Redemplo caps off a tumultuous 12 months for Arrowhead, whose partnership with Sarepta caused its own stock to drop during the gene therapy maker’s safety troubles this summer.
FDA
A week into his tenure as head of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, experts agree that Rick Pazdur is the “ideal fit” to stabilize the agency. And, according to one ex-FDA official, if his CBER counterpart Vinay Prasad tries to supersede Pazdur’s authority, “there will be hell to pay.”