The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) said it has developed a novel method of sample preparation for tests for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which could trim time and costs for diagnostic testing for COVID-19. This approach bypasses the RNA extraction step, thus eliminating the need for some supplies, and NIH said this technique is available for co-development or licensing with the private sector, giving the smart testing company access to a patent-protected technology with an existing demand already built in.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is hardly alone in its antipathy toward Illumina Inc.'s acquisition of Grail Inc., and FTC attorney Susan Musser said Aug. 24 that Illumina’s dominance of the market for next-generation sequencing (NGS) is perhaps the key aspect of the FTC’s case. Musser invoked the wide number of companies that jumped into the fray to develop a vaccine for the COVID-19 pandemic as an illustration of the need to maintain competition in the multicancer testing space.

Advancing efforts from PDUFA VI, the seventh iteration of the user fee agreement negotiated between the U.S. FDA and drugmakers is intended to take patient involvement in drug development to the next level, support a new wave of biologics, and provide more tools for developing therapies and cures for rare and ultra-rare diseases.

Medicare coverage does not necessarily mean appropriate reimbursement levels, a point pressed by Inspire Medical Systems Inc. at the Aug. 23 Medicare outpatient advisory panel hearing. The panel agreed that the company’s hypoglossal nerve stimulation (HNS) device for sleep apnea was subject to an inappropriate device offset figure, which could lead to a Medicare rate increase of more than $7,000 and a significant boost of sales of the company’s flagship Inspire HNS device.

The quiet cancellation of an Aug. 24 meeting in which the U.S. CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) was supposed to discuss COVID-19 vaccine boosters is raising more questions about whether the Biden administration got ahead of the data with its Aug. 18 announcement that it planned to roll out mRNA booster shots to adults beginning next month.

As the U.S. House of Representatives resumes work Aug. 23 on a budget reconciliation proposal to get a $3.5 trillion fiscal 2022 budget across the finish line, many lawmakers are looking to provisions to reduce prescription drug prices as a way to pay for increased spending in other health care sectors.

The FDA has granted full approval to Pfizer Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine in a move that is hoped will convince unvaccinated citizens that the shot is safe and effective. The mRNA vaccine, which will be branded as Comirnaty and was first developed by Germany’s Biontech SE, has been available since Dec. 11 last year under an emergency use authorization (EUA) and is the first to receive the FDA’s full endorsement.

Cardiac Dimensions Inc. launched the Empower trial of its Carillon mitral contour system for the treatment of heart failure patients with early-stage functional mitral regurgitation. The company expects to enroll up to 300 patients at 75 sites in the international, randomized, sham-controlled trial.

The FDA said it has withdrawn the accreditation of Accelerated Device Approval Services LLC (ADAS), of Miami, for making false presentations about one of the company’s employees. Among the allegations are that the company named a reviewer who was never employed by ADAS, and that the company misled a client about the status of a regulatory filing.