Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare finished the first quarter – and Japan’s fiscal year – with a bang, handing out 32 approvals in the month of March. It marked a massive jump from previous months, which saw 13 products approved in February 2022 and 12 in January 2022. A total of nine products were approved in December 2021.
Sanofi SA’s enzyme replacement therapy, Xenpozyme (olipudase alfa), has been approved for use in Japan, making it the world’s first and only approved therapy to treat acid sphingomyelinase deficiency (ASMD), also known as Niemann-Pick type B disease. Sanofi’s executive vice president and global head of R&D, John Reed, hailed it as a “watershed moment” that was the culmination of 20 years of research.
The beleaguered PI3K-delta inhibitor space took another blow after MEI Pharma Inc. and partner Kyowa Kirin Co. Ltd. said the U.S. FDA won’t greenlight zandelisib without data from a randomized study.
Janssen Pharmaceutical Cos, Inc.’s CAR T-cell therapy, Carvykti (ciltacabtagene autoleucel), looks set for approval in Europe after endorsement by regulators for advanced multiple myeloma. At its monthly meeting, the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use recommended Carvykti for adults with relapsed and refractory disease who have received at least three prior therapies and whose cancer has worsened since their last treatment.
The Drugs Controller General of India has granted Novavax Inc. and the Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. emergency use authorization (EUA) for Novavax’s protein-based COVID-19 vaccine. It was authorized for use in adolescents aged 12 to 18 years. The vaccine will be manufactured and marketed in India by the Serum Institute under the brand name Covovax.
Innovent Biologics Co. Ltd. and Eli Lilly and Co. are "assessing next steps" for their jointly developed PD-1 inhibitor, sintilimab, following receipt of a complete response letter (CRL) from the U.S. FDA.
China’s NMPA has given a green light for Walvax Biotechnology Co. Ltd.’s human papillomavirus (HPV) bivalent vaccine to be used against HPV types 16 and 18 to prevent cervical cancer.
Regenerative medicine company Sanbio Co. Ltd. submitted its BLA for its lead mesenchymal stem cell-based treatment, SB-623, to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for chronic motor deficit due to traumatic brain injury. The application was submitted through Japan’s Sakigake designation system.
The NMPA’s Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) published a draft document named the Pilot Work Procedure to Speed Up the Review of Innovative Drug NDAs in February 2022. It aims to accelerate the review of new drug applications (NDAs) in China.
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