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FDA
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary intends to resign on Tuesday, according to several sources. This report follows a tumultuous 13-month tenure in which Makary oversaw the controversial rejections of several rare disease drugs and “predictable volatility” within the agency.
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New guidelines from two leading medical associations suggest that efforts to reduce bad cholesterol should focus on maintaining low levels of two key lipoproteins. Big pharma is all in, looking to improve on the standard statins to help vanquish America’s number one killer: heart disease.
The FDA’s decision last year to make complete response letters public provides new insight into why therapies sometimes fail to get the regulatory greenlight. Analysts say the information could help sponsors refine their regulatory strategies.
The Department of Health and Human Services is spinning its wheels, unable to establish steady leadership at three major divisions—the CDC and the FDA’s two primary review units.
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Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
FDA
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s health department has consistently touted radical transparency as being key to its mission. Recent instances—the FDA’s decision not to disclose the recipients of three Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers and FDA and CDC choices not to publish vaccine-related papers—call this intent into question.
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After last year’s ‘stampede’ for FGF21 assets, the focus for the metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis space has shifted toward differentiated approaches, such as THR-β agonists and combination treatments, that seek to mirror the commercial success of Madrigal’s Rezdiffra.
FDA
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.
Maintaining America’s momentum demands that policymakers resist policies that undermine research and development incentives.
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.
In this episode of Denatured, you’ll be listening to Jane Hughes, President of R&D and Co-founder of Verdiva Bio, and Jon Rees, CEO and Co-founder of MitoRx Therapeutics. We’ll discuss next-generation obesity solutions tackling GLP-1’s muscle loss and adherence challenges, through innovative muscle preservation, oral administration and combination therapy.
Once fully operational, the Pennsylvania site will employ more than 500 people and make cell therapies for thousands of patients a year.
Novartis and Unnatural Products did not specify which disease targets they’re going after, only noting that the latter’s macrocyclic platform can generate potentially next-generation therapies that could apply to cardiovascular conditions.
The FDA’s drug review process can often be “unpredictable,” and review teams typically “differ greatly” in what they ask of drug sponsors, Sen. Bill Cassidy said.
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.
In the incredibly hot obesity drug space, with more than 700 clinical trials ongoing, Verdiva Bio and MitoRx leaders discuss how next-generation therapies are targeting lean muscle preservation, extended efficacy and better safety profiles to enable lifelong weight management.