With two FDA meetings in its hip pocket to discuss maralixibat for treating pruritus associated with Alagille syndrome, Mirum Pharmaceuticals Inc. got a resounding boost from the market Monday as its stock (NASDAQ:MIRM) closed up 111%, at $17.28.
Boston Scientific Corp., of Marlborough, Mass., has won the U.S. FDA’s nod for the Exalt Model D single-use duodenoscope for use in endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedures. It is the first single-use duodenoscope on the market and earlier secured breakthrough device designation. “Unlike duodenoscopes that are used on multiple patients, a fully disposable duodenoscope doesn’t need to be reprocessed, eliminating the risk of potential infection due to ineffective reprocessing,” said Jeff Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
Little more than a month after the FDA's Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee unanimously supported approval of Amarin Corp. plc's fish oil-based Vascepa (icosapent ethyl) for reducing the risk of cardiovascular (CV) events in adults with elevated triglyceride levels, the agency has greenlighted a label expansion for the already-approved medicine, allowing for its adjunctive use in that indication.
BEIJING – Jinan, China-based Qilu Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has won the first approval for a China-developed biosimilar to Avastin (bevacizumab, Roche Holding AG). Its biosimilar QL-1101, to be sold under the trade name Ankada, has been approved to treat advanced, metastatic or recurrent non-small-cell lung cancer and metastatic colorectal cancer.
Device makers have been scrambling for space in value-based care arrangements even though the pace of adoption of those arrangements has been somewhat tepid. While device makers are not explicitly included in a proposed overhaul of the Stark and Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) regulations, providers may soon be more engaged in these arrangements, thus providing device makers with more opportunities even if they are not included in the rewrite of the related regulatory provisions.
TORONTO – Montreal’s Dialogue Technologies Inc. has received class 1 CE marking for artificial intelligence (AI)-powered software that enables the company’s existing telehealth platform to reduce the time required to triage patients in emergencies. The new AI-driven Dialogue Intake software also has “human-in-the-loop” capability ensuring real-time medical intervention to verify the accuracy of information provided physicians during telehealth consultation.