The U.S. Medicare program’s final rule for fiscal year 2025 inpatient care retains several controversial proposals, but some device makers fared well in their new technology add-on payment (NTAP) applications, including Dublin-based Medtronic plc, which won NTAP payments for two devices.
The U.S. FDA’s device center is working to refine its regulation of artificial intelligence algorithms, but the agency is recommending that industry be more forward-thinking in a blog that urges device makers to fully adopt a life cycle management mindset for these systems.
Mediwound Ltd. reported that the Nexobrid expanded treatment access protocol achieved complete debridement in 94.9% of adults and all children treated and removed all eschar within 24 hours. The results put more power behind a partnership with Vericel Corp. that introduced Nexobrid, an enzymatic debridement agent for severe thermal burns, into the U.S. in the fourth quarter of 2023 and increases the likelihood of an indication expansion into pediatrics.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is 6-1 so far in blocking court challenges to the Medicare price negotiation program mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The department’s latest victory came July 31 when a federal district judge in New Jersey tossed a complaint filed by Novo Nordisk A/S, citing a lack of jurisdiction on the court’s part and the company’s lack of standing.
The possibility of a 2025 approval looks to be off the table for Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s Iomab-B, at least in the U.S. In a move that H.C. Wainwright analyst Joseph Pantginis dubbed “a major surprise,” the FDA has requested a head-to-head study demonstrating overall survival before it will consider approving the radiotherapy candidate for use in patients with active relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia.
Neurotech startup Synchron Inc. connected its brain implant to Apple’s Vision Pro headset, enabling patients with limited physical mobility to control the device using only their thoughts. Synchron is building an endovascular brain-computer interface designed to help patients with paralysis operate technology like smartphones and computers with their minds.
In Pumpkinseed Technologies Inc.’s first public patenting, the company’s co-founders describe their development of new proteomics platform that merges nanotechnology, biochemistry, silicon photonics and machine learning for high-resolution phenotyping to deliver new biological insights.
Vir Biotechnology Inc.’s focus will look a little different for the latter half of 2024, as the San Francisco-based firm disclosed a restructuring that will cut about a fourth of its workforce and phase out programs targeting influenza and COVID-19 as well as vaccines developed using its T-cell-based viral vector platform.
Inflation continues to take a toll on U.S. FDA drug and device user fees with some of the fees increasing as much as 44% for fiscal 2025. While most fee increases for generics and innovative drugs and biologics are below 10%, the ANDA fee is jumping 28% to $321,920.
Tokyo-headquartered Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. said Aug. 1 that it will acquire Boston-based Jnana Therapeutics Inc. through a potential $1.125 billion M&A deal. Under the terms, Otsuka will work to close the transaction by the third quarter of 2024, with $800 million paid out to Jnana shareholders, along with up to $325 million in additional development and regulatory milestones payments.
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