Triggering a wave of commentary over its import, Biogen Inc. on Jan. 29 said the FDA has extended to June 7 its review of a BLA for the experimental Alzheimer's disease therapy aducanumab after the company submitted additional analyses and clinical data, making for a major amendment to the application. The three-month delay, from an earlier assigned PDUFA date of March 7, followed a thumbs-down vote by agency advisors in November. It sparked both sunny optimism and a bit of pessimism about the program's prospects on Friday.
DUBLIN – Amid a bitter dispute between the European Commission (EC) and Astrazeneca plc over supplies of the latter’s SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, the EC’s drug regulator, the EMA, recommended approval of the product in question, COVID-19 Vaccine Astrazeneca (formerly AZD-1222).
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Amarin, Arvelle, Ascentage, Bellicum, Biogen, Biontech, Eisai, Gan & Lee, Incyte, Karyopharm, Mabxience, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, RDIF, Roche, Stada, Tetra, Vertex.
For at least the past decade – under both the Obama and Trump administrations, and perhaps even in previous administrations – the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has been using the “Bank of BARDA” to routinely cover millions of dollars of unrelated spending at the Office of Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel said in letters yesterday to President Joe Biden and Congress.
The latest global regulatory news, changes and updates affecting biopharma, including: Biden orders review of scientific-integrity policies; Canada to build rare disease drug strategy; South African variant in U.S..
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Antengene, Bio-Thera, Harbour, Immunoforge, Kintor, M6P, Opko, Passage, Pfizer.
The U.S. biosimilar market is coming of age under the BsUFA II agreement, but there are a few steps the FDA could take to help it develop more predictably. For starters, the agency should conduct pre-approval inspections earlier in the 12-month biosimilar review cycle to give sponsors time to address unexpected issues, industry representatives told the FDA Jan. 27 in response to an independent interim assessment of the enhanced transparency and communication processes included in the current user fee agreement.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Cellectar, GBT, JCR, Kempharm, MGB, Q Biomed, Teneobio, Teneothree.
HONG KONG – Shortly after Australia’s recent provisional approval for the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty (tozinameran), originally developed by Pfizer Inc. and Biontech SE, Hong Kong has approved it, too, for emergency use ahead of rivals developed in mainland China. It is the first vaccine to be approved in the Chinese territory, made possible through a collaboration between Biontech and Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd.