FDA
The White House is clamping down on pharma’s ability to buy new molecules from Chinese biotechs; Sanofi, Merck and others abandon the U.K. after the introduction of a sizeable levy; Novo CEO Maziar Mike Doustdar lays off 9,000 while the company presents new data at EASD; Capsida loses a patient in a gene therapy trial; and CDER Director George Tidmarsh walks back comments on FDA adcomms.
While the FDA is trumpeting this new initiative as “sweeping reforms” to the way drug companies can advertise, experts say the regulator is going after a problem that doesn’t exist.
The FDA has vowed to fix a pharma ad loophole—but they’re targeting the wrong one.
Both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are eyeing regulatory advancements for their obesity blockbusters as the European Association for the Study of Diabetes’ annual conference continues this week.
CDER Director George Tidmarsh said on two separate events last week that he thought advisory committee meetings for specific drug applications were redundant, but then denied having said the agency would abandon them.
On the FDA’s docket for the back half of September is Merck’s proposed subcutaneous formulation of its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda.
Ocaliva won accelerated approval for primary biliary cholangitis in 2016, which the FDA refused to upgrade to full approval last year after an advisory committee was unable to verify a favorable risk/benefit profile.
This week’s release of the Make America Health Again report revealed continued emphasis on vaccine safety; Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s faceoff with senators last week amounted to political theater; the FDA promises complete response letters in real time and shares details on a new rare disease framework; and Summit disappoints at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in Barcelona.
After receiving a complete response letter for its pyruvate dehydrogenase complex deficiency candidate, Saol Therapeutics anticipates it will need “several years” and “significant financial resources” to address the FDA’s concerns.
Ori Biotech’s CEO said the prioritization of review by FDA, coupled to the impact of the technology, could shave up to three years off development timelines.
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