The U.S. FTC’s policing of Orange Book patent listings begs the question of when, and whether, the FDA will deliver on its commitment to provide more clarity on the types of device patents that can be listed as covering a “drug product.”

With a landmark U.K. approval in hand for Casgevy (exagamglogene autotemcel [exa-cel]) to treat sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia, Crispr Therapeutics AG and partner Vertex Therapeutics Inc. are turning their attention to the PDUFA dates set by the U.S. FDA for the treatment in both conditions.

From the start of the Nov. 16 Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee meeting, the U.S. FDA made it clear that withdrawing Acrotech Biopharma Inc.’s peripheral T-cell lymphoma drugs, Folotyn (pralatrexate) and Beleodaq (belinostat), from the market until a long-overdue confirmatory trial is completed is not an option given the current treatment landscape.

Medical device companies and trade associations alike have been clamoring for some time for a leaner path to Medicare coverage for their more novel product offerings, a message that may be gaining traction.

The U.S. FDA’s approach to bias covers a large swath of territory, including the potential for bias to creep invisibly into artificial intelligence (AI) products. Yarmela Pavlovic, vice president for global regulatory affairs at Medtronic plc, said at this year’s Artificial Intelligence Summit that regulators may be more wary of the potential hazards of bias in AI compared to non-AI software simply because of the difficulty in anticipating how bias might affect the function of these advanced algorithms.

Sirpant Immunotherapeutics Inc.’s lead product candidate, Sirpant-M (SI-101), has been awarded U.S. orphan drug designation for the treatment of T-cell lymphoma.