FDA
Biotech’s slump may finally be over in 2026. In interviews with BioSpace, Zymeworks’ CEO Ken Galbraith and Zai Lab’s President and COO Josh Smiley explain what’s fueling the comeback.
Speaking on Bloomberg TV on Monday, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary contradicted recent reporting that suggested the agency was planning to add a black box label—its most serious warning—to COVID-19 vaccines.
Analysts at Jefferies called the approval “highly significant,” estimating it could add $2 billion to $3 billion to peak Enhertu sales.
Representatives of companies including AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson and Merck have voiced concerns about the FDA’s approach to pre-approval inspections.
The FDA had previously turned back the heart rhythm nasal spray twice, once in late 2023 with a refusal to file letter and again in March this year, when it flagged manufacturing issues.
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.
Generalized myasthenia gravis is Uplizna’s second new indication this year, after the FDA cleared the anti-CD19 antibody for IgG4-related disease in April.
Blujepa is also approved for uncomplicated urinary tract infection in females 12 years and older.
Backed by Italy-based Fondazione Telethon ETS, Waskyra, for Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, is the first gene therapy from a non-profit sponsor to win FDA approval.
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