Patent challenges for radiotherapy equipment might not make the splash that in vitro diagnostic patents have, but Elekta AB and Zap Surgical Inc., have been locked in a dispute over an Elekta patent for the past four years.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 covered a lot of budget terrain for the U.S. federal government, but Section 3305 was unusual for this type of bill in that it called on the FDA to require cybersecurity features as a part of the Quality System Regulation (QSR).
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Abyrx, Femasys, Profound Medical, Profound Medical, Saluda Medical.
How flexible should the U.S. FDA evidentiary standards be for a therapy addressing a significant unmet need in a disease such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)? That’s the question the agency’s Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee will ponder Sept. 27 as it looks at the data for Brainstorm Cell Therapuetics Inc.’s Nurown (debamestrocel), a mesenchymal stromal cell therapy targeting ALS. Nurown is going into the adcom with a bit of a checkered history that includes a refuse-to-file letter and a single phase III trial that failed to demonstrate efficacy for the primary endpoint and all key secondary efficacy endpoints, according to the FDA briefing document.
In another boost to its diabetes portfolio, Medtronic plc was granted CE mark approval for its Simplera continuous glucose monitor (CGM) sensor. The EU greenlight for Simplera follows the U.S. FDA approval for Medronic’s Minimed 780G insulin pump system earlier in the year. Simplera is an all-in-one disposable CGM sensor which features a two-step insertion process and will help patients who must have multiple daily injections (MDI) manage their diabetes.
Medtech Europe has on several occasions given voice to concerns about the drawn-out overhaul of the European Union’s medical device regulation but has come up with a new set of recommendations to break the regulatory logjam.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Arch, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Genflow, Ligand, Mabwell, Micurx, Puma, Via Nova.
Approvals from the U.S. FDA are up more than 16% from last year, with 113 drugs approved in the first eight months of 2023. New approvals include two different treatments for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, two treatments for ultra-rare diseases and a biosimilar to Biogen Inc.’s Tysabri. In August the FDA greenlighted 13 drugs, approving three NDAs, six BLAs, two supplemental NDAs and two supplemental BLAs.
The U.K.’s Competition Appeal Tribunal has rejected appeals by drugmakers, including Actavis plc and Allergan Inc., against a ruling by regulators that they hiked the price of a life-saving adrenal insufficiency drug excessively for almost a decade, saddling the companies with fines amounting to nearly £130 million (US$159 million).