A quick jury verdict that a biopharma official was guilty of insider trading validated the U.S. SEC’s broader view of what constitutes such trading and could ignite more SEC “shadow trading” investigations and allegations. Following an eight-day trial before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and a little more than two hours of deliberation, a jury found April 5 that Matthew Panuwat violated national securities laws when he purchased short-term, out-of-the-money stock options in Incyte Corp. in 2016.
Following the U.S. FDA’s expansion of competing BCMA-targeting CAR T therapy Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel) to include third-line and later treatment in multiple myeloma (MM) patients, the agency cleared Carvykti (ciltacabtagene autoleucel) from Legend Biotech Corp. and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen unit for use in MM patients as early as second-line treatment. The label, which RBC Capital Markets analyst Leonid Timashev called a “best-case scenario,” includes no notable updates to the black box warning and should help accelerate and expand Carvykti’s update in the U.S., with 2024 revenues expected to top $950 million.
The U.S. FDA announced a class I recall of single-use neurovascular guide catheters made by Medos International Sarl SA of Neuchatel, Switzerland, because of fractures in the device’s distal catheter shaft. The FDA stated that the issue, seen in the company’s Cerebase DA line of guide sheaths, has led Medos to recommend that customers quarantine any of the affected devices, although a root cause has not yet been identified.
Life science companies and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative have not always seen eye to eye on issues such as compulsory licensing, but industry might be supportive of a remark by U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai about companies that are provided with anticompetitive breathing by their host governments with noticeable anticompetitive effect.
Spirair Inc. won the race for the first U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance for a minimally invasive therapy for nasal septal deviation (NSD), the company said. The Septalign system features a bioabsorbable implant that enables minor cartilaginous septal deviation that can be placed in an office with local anesthesia.
“Traditional septoplasty and septorhinoplasty can require significant time away from work, with nearly 42% of patients requiring two weeks or more for recovery. With Septalign, recovery is much faster and requires little to no time away from work for recovery,” Spirair CEO Ben Bishop told BioWorld.
Insider trading goes beyond the bounds of the companies at the center of nonpublic information, the U.S. SEC reminded biopharma industry insiders Aug. 17 when it charged Matthew Panuwat, former head of business development at Medivation Inc., with insider trading ahead of the California company’s Aug. 22, 2016, announcement that it was being acquired by Pfizer Inc. in a $14 billion deal.
Mixed opinions from the U.S. FDA’s Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee last month didn’t stop the agency from green-lighting an expanded label for Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel) to include adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (r/r MM) after two or more prior lines of therapy including an immunomodulatory agent, a proteasome inhibitor and an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody.
In finalizing its 2025 Medicare Advantage and Part D rule, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) all but did away with the coverage differences between biosimilars and interchangeables.
Some warning letters issued by the U.S. FDA are fairly simple matters, but that statement does not appear to apply to the Oct. 13, 2023, warning letter to Renovo Inc., of Bend, Ore. The warning letter provided a laundry list of sterilized reusable devices the agency said were not properly validated for sterilization, but the company rebutted these allegations in a vigorous defense of its reputation as a reprocessor.
Paragonix Technologies Inc. expanded access to its U.S. FDA-cleared Baroguard donor lung preservation system following a successful limited release with a handful of top transplant centers. In addition to critical temperature control, the new system provides active airway management to keep donor lungs in the best condition possible.
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