Although more and more gene therapies are getting the FDA stamp of approval, concerns persist about their potential long-term risks. U.S. lawmakers have proposed several pieces of legislation over the past few years to address some of the uncertainties. Now the Congressional Research Service (CRS) is suggesting other requirements Congress may want to consider to improve the regulatory landscape for gene therapies, especially those intended to treat blood disorders.
FDA commissioner Bob Califf made it his mission to counter medical and food product misinformation, and described the dilemma as an emergency at an Oct. 28 public meeting.
The U.S. FDA cleared Paragonix Technologies Inc.’s Kidneyvault portable renal perfusion system, which combines digital monitoring capabilities and hypothermic perfusion technology to preserve donor kidneys during transportation.
The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA)’s Kickstart program has announced receipt of both U.S. orphan drug and rare pediatric disease designations in support of work for congenital myasthenic syndrome caused by choline acetyltransferase (CHAT) gene deficiency. The FDA awarded the orphan drug designation to AVCHAT-01X (AAV serotype 9 human choline acetyltransferase).
Ideaya Biosciences Inc. has announced FDA clearance of an IND application for IDE-275 (GSK-959), a small-molecule inhibitor of Werner helicase (WRN) discovered by Ideaya in collaboration with GSK plc.
With the U.S. FDA’s approval of Orlynvah (sulopenem etzadroxil and probenecid) for uncomplicated urinary tract infections, Iterum Therapeutics plc can move on from regulatory delays and prepare to launch only the second FDA-approved treatment for the indication in the past 20 years.
If the maximum fair prices the U.S. CMS announced after the first round of drug price negotiations are any indication, advocates of the government price setting may be settling for short-term wins at the cost of long-term, more sustainable price reductions driven by competition.
Medtronic plc added a second U.S. FDA pulsed field ablation (PFA) device approval to its scorecard with the agency’s greenlight for its Affera mapping and ablation system with the Sphere-9 catheter. Affera brings the first radiofrequency/PFA device to the cardiac ablation market and ups the ante in the PFA competition.
The Medical Information Working Group again took up a question regarding U.S. FDA-regulated speech, citing the agency’s new misinformation draft guidance as an example of a piecemeal approach to regulated speech.