Although last year’s massive U.S. launch of Humira biosimilars captured headlines, the market adoption of those competitors has been nothing to write home about, even with discounts as low as 85% off the innovator price.
Pfizer Inc. is calling on the Australian government to establish priorities for the life sciences sector to attract more investment into research, clinical trials and manufacturing in Australia. The new report recommends that the government issue a life sciences vision akin to the one issued by the U.K. in 2021 to make the country more competitive to attract investment.
Drug and device sponsors conducting clinical trials in China to support U.S. FDA approval may want to reconsider their choice of trial sites, as trials conducted at hospitals and clinics affiliated with China’s military or in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region could be in for increased scrutiny.
The U.S. FDA approved 17 drugs in July, down from 28 in June, which marked the third-highest month in BioWorld’s records. On average, the FDA approved approximately nearly 19 drugs per month so far in 2024, compared to 16 per month in 2023, 12.5 per month in 2022, and 17 per month in both 2021 and 2020.
China’s National Medical Products Administration cleared Ascentage Pharma Group Corp. Ltd. to begin a registrational phase III trial of its BCL-2 selective inhibitor lisaftoclax (APG-2575) in combination with azacitidine for first-line treatment of newly diagnosed patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome.
Pfizer Inc. is calling on the Australian government to establish priorities for the life sciences sector to attract more investment into research, clinical trials and manufacturing in Australia. The new report recommends that the government issue a life sciences vision akin to the one issued by the U.K. in 2021 to make the country more competitive to attract investment.
In the wake of shortages for Novo Nordisk A/S’ Ozempic (semaglutide), Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration has announced that Wegovy, which has the same active ingredient, is now available in Australia and is advising prescribers to stop prescribing Ozempic off-label for weight loss.
China will deepen its health care reforms and will focus on enhancing its public health care capacity at the primary care level and at public hospitals, according to resolutions passed at the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in July.
The U.S. FDA accepted Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd.’s new drug application for TLX-007-CDx, a new cold kit for preparing prostate-specific membrane antigen-PET imaging for prostate cancer.
Astellas Pharma Inc.’s claudin (CLDN) 18.2-targeted monoclonal antibody, zolbetuximab, received a positive opinion from the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) and could be the first CLDN18.2 molecule to be approved in Europe if it receives final approval.