Simcere Zaiming Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has obtained clinical trial approval from China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for SIM-0508, a small-molecule inhibitor of DNA polymerase θ (POLθ), allowing initiation of clinical trials in locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors.

Ractigen Therapeutics Co. Ltd.’s small activating RNA (saRNA) therapeutic, RAG-18, has been awarded U.S. orphan drug designation for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and Becker muscular dystrophy.

The long struggle by Boston-based I2o Therapeutics Inc.’s business unit Intarcia Therapeutics to get long-lasting exenatide for diabetes onto the market ended with a final thumbs-down from the U.S. FDA because of safety concerns. At issue was ITCA-650, a twice-yearly implantable exenatide-device combo meant to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s broad rule banning noncompete employment clauses was struck down by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. In a final judgment from Judge Ada Brown, the court set aside the noncompete rule, saying it won’t be enforced or take effect as planned on Sept. 4.

The U.S. FDA recently granted Medtronic plc approval for its deep brain stimulation (DBS) system to be used to treat Parkinson’s disease or essential tremor while a patient is asleep, under general anesthesia. The approval gives patients another option for DBS therapy which can transform their quality of life, Amaza Reitmeier, vice president and general manager for Medtronic brain modulation, told BioWorld in an interview.

The U.S. FDA’s draft guidance for predetermined change control protocols for all device types fills in a gap left by previous draft guidance, but there is one potential stopping point for class III devices.

Monopar Therapeutics Inc. has received Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) clearance in Australia to initiate a phase I therapeutic trial of its novel radiopharmaceutical MNPR-101-Lu. MNPR-101-Lu combines the therapeutic radioisotope lutetium-177 (Lu-177) with Monopar’s proprietary first-in-class humanized monoclonal antibody MNPR-101, which is highly selective against the urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR).

Immpact Bio USA Inc. has obtained IND clearance from the FDA for IMPT-514, a CD19/CD20 bispecific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for the treatment of adult patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). A phase I trial will focus on patients who have suboptimal disease control despite prior treatment with high efficacy disease-modifying therapies in all forms of MS.

The U.K. has become the first country in Europe to approve Leqembi (lecanemab), but as the breakthrough decision was announced, the health technology assessment body NICE said the benefits are too small to justify the cost of providing the Alzheimer’s disease therapy on the National Health Service (NHS).