Regulatory
The safety update for Vyvgart rattled argenx’s shares on Monday, a reaction that analysts at William Blair said was “overdone.”
The high court sides with HHS on HIV PrEP drugs; Health Secretary RFK Jr.’s newly appointed CDC vaccine advisors discuss thimerosal in flu vaccines, skip vote on Moderna’s mRNA-based RSV vaccine; FDA removes CAR T guardrails; AbbVie snaps up Capstan for $1.2B to end first half; and psychedelics take off again with data from Compass and Beckley.
Cell and gene therapy leaders say the agency’s decision to remove the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies that had been attached to approved CAR T cancer therapies reflects “thoughtful consideration of real-world evidence” and “regulatory trust.”
The FDA’s clunky launch of Elsa, an AI tool to increase efficiency, has sparked concern from agency employees and outside experts.
The FDA delivered two notable approvals for RSV immunization, UroGen overcame a negative advisory committee vote to secure an approval in bladder cancer, and more key regulatory nods from the past month.
The high court found that members of a task force that determines what preventive drugs must be covered can be removed at will by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The revamped and “more anti-vax skewed ACIP committee” at the CDC “has a bone to pick with mRNA vaccines,” according to Truist Securities analysts. Meanwhile, the FDA moves forward on having Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna update labels for their COVID vaccines.
The FDA found that data from a single Phase II study were “insufficient” to justify an accelerated approval review for sevasemten in Becker muscular dystrophy.
Susan Monarez, already acting director of the CDC, said during her confirmation hearing that she sees no causal link between vaccines and autism.
Jefferies analysts called the proxy filing, which is a standard disclosure after a merger agreement, “much more intriguing than normal” given the regulatory turmoil it revealed.
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