FDA
The regulator’s approval on Friday of Vyloy for gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer makes it the first and only claudin 18.2–targeted therapy approved in the U.S. for these indications, according to Astellas.
The regulator has delayed its respective decision dates on whether to grant full approval to Amgen’s Lumakras in metastatic colorectal cancer and Intercept Pharmaceuticals’ Ocaliva for primary biliary cholangitis.
Earlier this month, Kezar Life Sciences announced that the mid-stage test of zetomipzomib in lupus nephritis had been placed on an FDA clinical hold. Now, that program is being terminated.
While the regulator conducts another review into the supply of Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide, compounders will be able to continue selling their own remixed versions of the blockbuster drug.
The approval makes Pfizer’s Hympavzi the first once-weekly subcutaneous prophylactic injection for hemophilia B in the U.S., according to the company, which is currently embroiled in a row with activist investor Starboard Value.
The FDA is looking at four events for the remainder of October, one of which is an advisory committee meeting for a dual SGLT inhibitor for use alongside insulin in type 1 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.
Since its inception in 1992, the FDA’s accelerated approval pathway has helped shepherd nearly 300 new drugs to the market. However, recent years have seen a number of high-profile market withdrawals and failed confirmatory trials.
Despite substantial variability in the presented data and no well-controlled trial, the FDA advisory committee voted in favor of Stealth BioTherapeutics’ Barth syndrome therapy elamipretide, citing the urgent unmet need.
With the regulatory approval for advanced breast cancer, Roche’s inavolisib is a potential challenger to Novartis’ PI3K inhibitor Piqray, which last year generated $505 million in revenue.
The FDA’s reviewers pointed out that Stealth’s elamipretide missed its primary efficacy endpoints in the main study used to establish its effectiveness.
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