Featured Stories
Roche Earns CE Mark for AI-Enabled Medical Device
Roche has received CE mark approval for its AI-enabled Accu-Chek SmartGuide continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system, designed for adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes on flexible insulin therapy. The system, which features a 14-day wear time and a one-step application process, uses predictive AI to provide real-time glucose predictions and assess hypoglycemia risk with clinical evaluations showing high accuracy, with 99.8% of glucose values within acceptable zones.
FDA Issues Complete Response Letter for AbbVie’s Parkinson’s Treatment... Again
The FDA has issued a Complete Response Letter (CRL) to AbbVie for its Parkinson’s treatment ABBV-951 due to issues with a third-party manufacturer. The regulator did not highlight safety or efficacy concerns with the drug or its administration device.
Novo Nordisk Secures Approval in China for Obesity Drug Wegovy
Novo Nordisk has gained approval from China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for its obesity drug Wegovy, which will be marketed as NovoCare in China and consisting of the same compound, semaglutide, as that used in Ozempic.
FDA Expands Label for Sarepta’s Duchenne Gene Therapy
The FDA has broadened the label for Sarepta Therapeutics’ Elevidys - a gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The therapy is now approved for all DMD patients aged 4 and older after the therapy showed meaningful clinical benefits in secondary measures, despite the trial missing its primary endpoint.
WuXi Shares Surge Following BIOSECURE Act's Exclusion
WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologics saw significant stock gains (7% and 14%, respectively) after the BIOSECURE Act was unexpectedly excluded from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Act, which targets foreign biotech companies over U.S. national security concerns, proposed cutting ties with certain Chinese firms by 2032.
FTC Supports Rule Change to Expose Anticompetitive Drug Patent Deals
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed a rule change that will require pharmaceutical companies to file all pre-institution patent settlements with the Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), with the ruling aimed at enhancing the FTC's ability to detect anticompetitive settlements that delay generic drug competition and keep drug prices high.
FDA Releases Guidance for Platform Technology in Drug Applications
The FDA has introduced guidance for platform technology designations that is designed to streamline regulatory processes for biotech companies using ‘well-understood and reproducible technology’, such as specific nucleic acid sequences, vectors or delivery methods, to expedite subsequent drug applications.
New Joint Regulatory Plan to Streamline Biotechnology Oversight
In response to President Biden’s Executive Order 14081, the EPA, FDA, and USDA have jointly unveiled a plan to streamline the regulation of biotech innovations in plants, animals, and microorganisms.
WuXi Biologics Withdraws from 2024 BIO Convention Amid Geopolitical Tensions
The move comes amidst increasing geopolitical tensions and a U.S. biosecurity crackdown, in which it was alleged that the company transferred the data of a US client to Beijing ‘without consent’.
Eli Lilly Sues Over Unauthorized Selling of Counterfeit Mounjaro and Zepbound Drugs
U.S.-based drugmaker Eli Lilly has settled with a medi spa that sold counterfeit versions of its diabetes drug Mounjaro and obesity treatment Zepbound.
UK Regulator Introduces Sandbox for AI as a Medical Device Testing
The U.K.’s Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s ‘sandbox’, AI Airlock, will be used to create simulated environments to address regulatory challenges associated with AI as a Medical Device (AIaMD).
FDA Approves Lumicell's Innovative Imaging System for Enhancing Breast Cancer Surgery
The FDA has approved Lumicell's LumiSystem, which combines the company’s FDA approved optical imaging agent with its direct visualization system. The imaging system will help surgeons identify residual cancer cells during breast cancer surgeries, and claims 84% diagnostic accuracy.
Teva and Alvotech Set to Transform Humira Market with Simlandi FDA Approval
After multiple manufacturing setbacks, the strategic commercialization partnership has finally seen U.S. FDA approval for Simlandi, their biosimilar to Humira. Simlandi is a high-concentration biosimilar with interchangeability status for Humira (an antirheumatic drug and monoclonal antibody used to treat rheumatoid arthritis), allowing it to be substituted at pharmacies without a prescriber's approval.
FDA Halts Neumora's Schizophrenia Drug Trials Over Preclinical Safety Concerns
The FDA has placed a clinical hold on Neumora Therapeutics' schizophrenia drug due to safety concerns identified in preclinical studies. The drug - a highly selective positive allosteric modulator of the M4 muscarinic receptor - was put on clinical hold to further investigate the safety signals that emerged during the preclinical phase, indicating potential risks that need to be addressed before continuing with human trials.
Study Reveals Many Fast-Tracked Cancer Drugs Fail to Show Long-Term Benefits
A study analysing 129 fast track cancer medication approvals between 2013 and 2023 has failed to demonstrate survival benefits after five years. The accelerated approval pathway, initially introduced to expedite treatments for urgent health crises like HIV/AIDS, has predominantly been applied to oncology drugs.
FDA Approves First BCMA-Targeted Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma Therapy
The U.S. FDA has approved Johnson & Johnson’s CARVYKTI as the first and only B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-targeted therapy for adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, based on the Phase 3 CARTITUDE-4 study results that demonstrated a 59% reduction in disease progression or death risk compared to standard treatments.
Novartis Prepares Pluvicto Filing for Earlier Prostate Cancer Stages Based on New Survival Data
Novartis is set to expand the use of its radiotherapy drug Pluvicto to earlier stages of prostate cancer following positive survival data from its phase 3 PSMAfore trial. Originally delayed, this decision comes after new analyses showed a survival benefit, contradicting earlier data suggesting a risk increase.
FDA Approves Zevtera for Multiple Bacterial Infections
The FDA has approved Basilea Pharmaceutica's Zevtera (ceftobiprole medocaril sodium) for the treatment of several bacterial infections.
Terumo Launches Study for Resorbable Microsphere Efficacy in Liver Cancer Treatment
Terumo Europe has initiated a study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of BioPearl microspheres, designed for treating unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with doxorubicin.
FDA Approves New PAH Treatments: OPSYNVI® and Winrevair
The FDA has approved two groundbreaking treatments for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH): OPSYNVI®, a once-daily tablet combining macitentan and tadalafil from Johnson & Johnson, and Merck's Winrevair (sotatercept-csrk), a first-in-class therapy.