The new year kicked off with good news from the U.S. FDA for Onconano Medicine Inc. The agency granted the company’s pH-sensitive fluorescent nanoprobe, pegsitacianine, breakthrough therapy designation for use as an adjunct for visualization of metastases in the peritoneal cavity.
The U.S. FDA has released the special controls needed for extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal thanks to the successful pursuit of a de novo petition by Pittsburgh-based Alung Technologies Inc., but generating the clinical data for successor 510(k) devices will be no mean feat. While some of the associated in vivo testing may be performed on animal models, the list is extensive and includes testing for hemodynamic instability and inadequate gas exchange, all reasons that Alung and the FDA needed the better part of a decade to bring this device to the U.S. market.
Burning Rock Biotech Ltd.’s share price flared up on Tuesday morning on news of U.S. FDA breakthrough device designation for its Overc multi-cancer detection blood test (MCDBT). The stock closed on Dec. 30, 2022, at $2.26 and rose sharply on the announcement to open at $2.89. By the end of the day, however, the stock had sunk to $2.15.
Citing an "atypical FDA review process and corporate greed" ahead of the controversial approval of Biogen Inc.'s Aduhelm (aducanumab), Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) called for "corrective actions" at the agency to "re-earn the trust of the American people." Pallone's comments prefaced a report drawn from 18 months of investigation around the regulatory review and approval process for the Alzheimer's disease drug, as well as Biogen’s pricing strategy.
The fifth medical device user fee agreement (MDUFA V) included several new programs, such as a program intended to aid device makers in an efficient to-market process. However, MDUFA V also boosted device user fees for many applications by 55% but turnaround times for these applications will remain essentially flat compared to MDUFA IV.
With yet another deadline looming for passage of spending bills for the U.S. federal budget, Congress has drafted an omnibus spending bill that would extend coverage of Medicare telehealth services. The problem with the legislation in the eyes of many stakeholders is that the Verifying Accurate Leading-edge IVCT Development (VALID) Act is not part of the package that must be passed by Dec. 23, an omission that leaves lab-developed tests (LDTs) in a nether world of regulatory ambiguity.
The U.K. is mulling over whether to recognize U.S. FDA approvals of medical devices as part of moves to accelerate the implementation of its post-Brexit regulatory system.
Building on the U.S. FDA approval of its Proclaim Plus spinal cord stimulation (SCS) system in August, Abbott Laboratories notched another approval with the FDA’s greenlight of the Eterna spinal cord stimulation system.
The conviction and sentencing of Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani of Theranos Corp. might be seen as an example of retribution for testing technology that didn’t exist and thus endangered patients, but that perception doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
Dexcom Inc. ends 2022 on a high note with broad clearance from the U.S. FDA for its G7 continuous glucose monitoring system (CGM). The long-awaited 510(k) clearance encompasses use in people with all types of diabetes age two and older, positioning Dexcom to take advantage of expanded coverage of CGMs to include individuals on basal insulin-only for Medicare beneficiaries as proposed by CMS in October.
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