PERTH, Australia – Australia should be at the front of the line among developed nations when it comes to innovative drugs and devices, but health policies must evolve to respond to changes in technology and global trends, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) said. Although Australia’s health policy has served the country well, tensions in the system are becoming seismic shifts that mirror international trends, J&J said in a recent report on Australia’s health system.
India’s Department of Pharmaceuticals (DOD) released draft guidelines to boost research and development in its pharmaceutical and medical device industries. The document touched on the reasons for a dedicated R&D and innovation policy, which involved reducing import dependence, increasing the speed of biologic and biosimilar development cycles, and tackling infrastructural challenges.
A U.S. federal jury convicted Charles Lieber, the former chair of Harvard University’s chemistry and chemical biology department, on charges related to lying to federal authorities about his affiliation with China’s Thousand Talents Plan and the Wuhan University of Technology, as well as failing to report the income he received from the institute.
Antengene Corp. Ltd. received marketing approval from China’s NMPA for ATG-010 (selinexor), a drug that was in-licensed from Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc. It was approved for use in combination with dexamethasone to treat adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
China’s NMPA has given thumbs up to Cstone Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.’s Cejemly (sugemalimab), an anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody. It was approved for use in treatment-naïve metastatic (stage IV) non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients in combination with chemotherapy.
Citing recent events that highlighted the risks of investing in companies based in China or that have the majority of their operations there, the U.S. SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance is seeking more specific disclosures from those companies about the legal and operational risks of investing in their securities.
China is making some advances in approving and reimbursing drugs to treat or prevent rare diseases. More than 60 rare disease drugs have been approved for marketing in China, with more than 40 of those included in the national medical insurance system, according to figures released at a national conference on rare diseases held in Beijing Dec. 18.
PERTH, Australia – The FDA has given the green light to Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd.’s lead radiopharmaceutical imaging agent, Illuccix, for prostate cancer. Illuccix is a kit for the preparation of gallium-68 (68Ga) prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) 11 for imaging prostate cancer with positron emission tomography (PET). It targets PSMA, a protein that is overexpressed on the surface of more than 90% of primary and metastatic prostate cancer cells.
There was no slowing of biopharma innovation in 2021, even as industry directed significant resources to, while feeling the impact of, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The year saw big wins for developers of DNA vaccines and biosimilars, while CAR T expanded its reach and a drug target once considered undruggable was finally conquered. And as 2021 gives way to 2022, other potentially game-changing technologies and therapeutics are waiting in the wings.
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