Outset Medical Inc. dropped 38% during intraday trading to reach its lowest point since going public in mid-2020 following its announcement that it began holding shipments of its Tablo hemodialysis system for home use in late May pending U.S. FDA clearance of a 510(k) submission for changes made to the device since its original clearance in March 2020. The stock which closed June 13 at $20.43, recovered some ground to close June 15 at $14.58, which is still 78% off the stock’s high in November 2020.
After a two-day session of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biologic Products Advisory Committee, the U.S. is within days of a long-awaited milestone of having not just one but at least two vaccines available for nearly every American. The VRBPAC voted unanimously, 21-0, June 15 to support amending the emergency use authorizations for both the Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc.-Biontech SE COVID-19 mRNA vaccines to allow their use in children 6 months and older.
The FDA’s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee posted briefing documents related to the June 17 meeting, set to consider Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s sNDA for Nuplazid (pimavanserin) to treat hallucinations and delusions associated with Alzheimer’s disease psychosis (ADP). Although shares of the San Diego-based firm (NASDAQ:ACAD) stayed in the black, closing at $18.77, up $2.52, or 15.5%, the briefing docs did not bring uniformly good news, echoing some of the concerns spelled out in an earlier complete response letter.
The U.S. Supreme Court shot down a rule June 15 that allowed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to sharply reduce Medicare reimbursement for Part B drugs to hospitals participating in the 340B prescription drug discount program.
U.S. FDA Commissioner Robert Califf offered the keynote address at this year’s annual meeting of the Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI), revisiting recent events that have roiled the agency’s staff and reputation. Califf made a point of emphasizing the need for new statutory authorities in connection with the supply chains for FDA-regulated products, and remarked that his return to the agency will not be a reversion to the norm in this context.
Ekso Bionics Holdings Inc. added a new indication for its robotic Eksonr exoskeleton with a U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance for use of the mobility device in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The green light for MS follows clearances for stroke and spinal cord rehabilitation in 2016 and acquired brain injury (ABI) in 2020.
Eli Lilly and Co. crossed the line in front of three strong competitors with the U.S. FDA’s approval of Olumiant (baricitinib) as a first-in-disease systemic treatment for severe alopecia areata. Two of those three are, like Olumiant, JAK inhibitors and have recent phase III data to run by the FDA.
With Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s FDA clearance for Amvuttra (vutrisiran) in the rearview mirror, investors are looking ahead to potentially label-widening phase III data related to another, already approved drug: Onpattro (patisiran).
Winding down its current term, the U.S. Supreme Court on June 13 declined to hear appeals filed by Insys Therapeutics Inc. founder John Kapoor and former regional sales director Sunrise Lee.
Bright Uro Inc. has emerged from stealth mode with $4 million in seed financing from Academy Investor Network, Fred Moll and several other angel investors. The company also secured a $2 million phase II small business innovation research (SBIR) grant from the NIH.