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The upcoming FDA decision for Replimune’s advanced melanoma drug could be a litmus test for the agency’s future regulatory decision-making, analysts say, with implications stretching well beyond one company.
FDA
While recent FDA guidance speaks to the agency’s support of innovative trial designs—including the use of external controls—the application of this flexibility appears to be inconsistent. One former regulator says the situation is more nuanced.
With CBER director Vinay Prasad set to depart the agency at the end of the month, a coalition of patient groups and biotech executives penned a letter imploring the Trump administration to “restore regulatory clarity” for rare disease therapies. Experts on a BioSpace panel last week also acknowledged the challenges faced by a more stringent FDA.
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As Big Pharma companies consider foregoing European drug launches to avoid reducing drug prices in the U.S. in alignment with Trump’s Most Favored Nation policy, patients will suffer.
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Analysts are keeping a close eye on Vertex’s kidney disease portfolio, anchored by the IgAN drug povetacicept, as its nonopioid painkiller Journavx is poised for “incremental” growth in the first half 2026, according to BMO Capital Markets.
FDA
The FDA’s refusal to review Moderna’s mRNA-based flu vaccine is part of a larger communications crisis unfolding at the agency over the past nine months that has also ensnarled Sarepta, Capricor, uniQure and many more.
Vinay Prasad, the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research head, is accused of interpersonal impropriety as pushback builds against his decision to reject Moderna’s influenza vaccine candidate.
Moderna’s mRNA-1010 was expected to contribute $1 billion to the company’s coffers by 2028. That plan is now out the window after the FDA refused to even look at the application.
Infigratinib topped “even the most optimistic expectations” for efficacy and safety in the late-stage PROPEL 3 study in achondroplasia, Truist Securities analysts said Thursday.
The sudden departure stands in contrast to other EU pharma leaders who have been given much longer transitions in recent months, including GSK’s Emma Walmsley and Novo Nordisk’s Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen.
An unnamed FDA official also told reporters that it would be good for Moderna to “show some humility” and admit that it didn’t follow the regulator’s recommendations in testing its mRNA flu vaccine.
In this episode of Denatured, Jennifer C. Smith-Parker speaks with Dr. Rob Monroe and Jennifer Fakish at Danaher Corporation. They discuss how antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) are transforming cancer care. With AI-powered pathology, doctors can now measure HER2 more precisely to match patients with the best treatments.
AbbVie contends that Botox should have been excluded from the IRA drug price negotiation program because it is a plasma-derived product.
The oral version of Wegovy has made GLP-1 medicines more accessible and acceptable to many patients who had steered clear of injectable versions, healthcare analytics firm Truveta suggests.