Since accelerated approvals first began to be granted in 1992, their pace for cancer indications has increased dramatically but a revolution in science has made it tough for the U.S. FDA to find its balance.
The question wasn’t if, but when and how, someone would challenge the Medicare negotiation provision laid out in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that was signed into U.S. law last year.
Canbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc. obtained marketing approval from China’s NMPA for CAN-108 (Livmarli; maralixibat chloride oral solution) to treat cholestatic pruritus in 1-year-old or older patients with Alagille syndrome, a development that the company touted for how quickly it followed similar approvals elsewhere.
Having already notched approvals in the EU and U.K., Astrazeneca plc hopes to prime the pump for a U.S. approval of nirsevimab as a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) prophylactic for infants when it makes its case June 8 before the FDA’s Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee.
As Monica Bertagnolli, U.S. President Joe Biden’s choice to be the next NIH director, meets with senators to gather support for her confirmation, she’s sure to be grilled by some of them about her stance on whether the agency can march in on drug patents based on a drug’s list price. Up until now, NIH directors have said no. A change in that policy, along with nearly flatline NIH spending and other new government initiatives, could impact private investment in drug R&D by increasing the cost of research and lowering the return on investment.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: American Regent, Avadel, Bioinvent, Canbridge, Daiichi Sankyo, Foghorn, Hemogenyx, Innovent, Kyverna, Springworks, Theratechnologies.
Incannex Healthcare Ltd. had quietly been developing its commercialization plans for psychedelic clinics well before Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration announced it would allow psilocybin and MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine) to be prescribed by authorized psychiatrists for treatment-resistant depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Arcturus, Astrazeneca, Amarin, Coherus, Edding, Enterin, Merck, Minoryx, Molecular Templates, Pfizer, TG, YS.
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed an agreement with the Biden administration on the debt ceiling, a deal that does not affect mandatory spending programs such as Medicare. However, the agreement, which still must gain the Senate’s stamp of approval, appears to eliminate any chance of yet more monies for the National Institutes of Health or the FDA, two programs of intense interest for companies in the life sciences.