Building D&D Pharmatech Inc. has been a rollercoaster ride, according to CEO Seulki Lee. The U.S. and Korea-based biotech is on another ascent, having scored U.S. FDA fast track designation for its metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) drug, ahead of its third attempt at a public listing.
Biosimilar competition to Amgen Inc.’s denosumab (Prolia/Xgeva) is rising globally, with Mabwell (Shanghai) Bioscience Co. Ltd. gaining the latest China NMPA approval of Maiweijian (TK-006) on April 8. Mabwell’s wholly owned subsidiary, Jiangsu T-mab Biopharma Co. Ltd., gained NMPA clearance of Maiweijian (120 mg) as the first denosumab biosimilar for the indications of U.S.-licensed Xgeva for bone-related diseases.
Beijing- and Shanghai-based Sperogenix Therapeutics Ltd. said that China’s regulatory agency accepted the NDA filing and granted priority review of Agamree (vamorolone) for Duchenne muscular dystrophy on March 26.
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare approved Astellas Pharma Inc.’s Vyloy (zolbetuximab) to treat a type of advanced gastric cancer on March 26, making it the first anti-claudin 18.2 monoclonal antibody to gain regulatory clearance worldwide.
The EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) adopted a positive opinion recommending approval of Pfizer Inc.’s Emblaveo (aztreonam-avibactam), an antibiotic combination that would offer a new option to patients with serious bacterial infections caused by multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria.
In February, the U.S. FDA greenlit 11 new drugs, a slight decrease from the 14 approvals seen in the same month the previous year but an increase from January’s tally of eight FDA approvals.
Regenerative medicine company Mesoblast Ltd. saw its stock shoot up 45% on the news that the U.S. FDA is satisfied with the additional data submitted from the company’s phase III study for remestemcel-L for treatment of adults with steroid-refractory acute graft-vs.-host disease (SR-aGVHD) to support filing a BLA in pediatric patients with SR-aGVHD.
China’s National Medical Products Administration has cleared China Grand Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Holdings Ltd. to advance radiopharmaceutical agent ITM-11 (177Lu-edotreotide) to phase III trials in gastroenteropancreatic-neuroendocrine tumors
Wuxi Apptec quit its membership in the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) after U.S. Congressman Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) sent a March 5 letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, asking the Department of Justice to investigate BIO because its lobbying efforts on behalf of Wuxi suggested it was operating as an unregistered agent of a foreign company while advancing the interests of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party.
Asieris Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd plans to submit a China NDA in the second quarter following positive phase III data for its cold light photodynamic drug-device combination product, Cevira, which is used as nonsurgical therapy for treating high-grade cervical dysplasia.