U.S. biotechs and regulators ushered in the era of gene therapy in 2023, experts at Bio Japan said, but medical reform is needed to pave the way for the “year of cell therapy” in 2024 and implement wider access to ultra-expensive cell and gene therapies.
Insider trading isn’t always about profits. Sometimes it’s avoiding losses. That’s the basis of the U.S. SEC’s complaint against Matthew Groom, an information technology consultant to Spero Therapeutics Inc. Groom agreed Sept. 15 to a $28,000 settlement to resolve the complaint stemming from a trade of Spero shares that enabled him to avoid $13,000 in losses when news of the company’s downsizing and issues with its lead product became public two years ago.
With two complete response letters in the rearview mirror, Abbvie Inc.’s Vyalev (foscarbidopa/foslevodopa) has been approved by the U.S. FDA for treating Parkinson’s disease. The drug is the first subcutaneous 24-hour infusion of levodopa-based therapy for treating motor fluctuations in adults with advanced disease.
Medtronic plc received U.S. FDA approval to undertake an early feasibility study of its dual-energy Affera cardiac ablation system in sustained ventricular tachycardia. Affera combines both radiofrequency and pulsed field ablation technologies in the Sphere-9 catheter along with high-density mapping.
Nyxoah SA recently raised $27 million after selling three million shares in a bid to shore up its capital base as it prepares to commercialize Genio — its obstructive sleep apnea technology — in the U.S.
Sunbird Bio Inc. closed an additional financing round of $14 million Oct. 16, reeling in new funding from Eli Lilly & Co. and the Singapore Economic Development Board’s investment arm, EDBI Pte Ltd.
The med-tech industry has been keen to see government fill in the so-called valley of death for breakthrough medical devices for some years, and 2024 may be the year it is finally done. Scott Whitaker, president and CEO of the Advanced Medical Technology Association said in an Oct. 16 press briefing that a House bill may pass during the upcoming lame duck session, bringing to a close an effort that has been the better part of a decade in the making.
Shares of Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) dropped nearly 20% Oct. 16 to close at $10.15 after the company reported a serious adverse event had prompted a U.S. FDA clinical hold for its COVID-19-influenza combination and standalone flu vaccine candidates.
Coming on the heels of an advisory committee in which the U.S. FDA and its independent advisers grappled with trying to fit an ultra-rare disease development program into the confines of the agency’s “significant evidence” requirements, an Oct. 16 public meeting on a Rare Disease Innovation Hub the agency is setting up seemed like a welcome step in the right direction for rare disease patients, their caregivers and companies working in the space.
Novocure GmbH secured U.S. FDA approval for Optune Lua, a wearable device that delivers alternating electric fields or tumor treating fields that kill cancer cells. Indicated for use with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors or docetaxel in the second or subsequent line for the treatment of metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer following the failure of platinum-based regimens, the approval was driven by the significant improvement in overall survival rates seen in the LUNAR pivotal study for Optune Lua.
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