Argenx NV’s Vyvgart (efgartigimod), approved late Friday by the FDA for treating generalized myasthenia gravis, became the first FcRn antagonist to cross the finish line. But the best news may be the drug’s broad label, which company executives highlighted during an investor call.
Regulatory agencies across the globe had their hands full in 2020 and 2021 in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that is just one reason that regulatory frameworks for artificial intelligence are lagging. Several regulatory proposals have been floated, but one of these hints at a need for regulatory harmonization, a requirement that seems certain to add yet more drag to a process that is already years behind the technology.
TORONTO – Hyperfine Inc. has received Health Canada approval for the first FDA-cleared portable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device, which also features advanced reconstruction deep learning software. The company simultaneously announced its commercial launch of the Swoop imaging system in Canada.
DUBLIN – The EMA has rejected Biogen Inc.’s application for European Union approval of Aduhelm (aducanumab), its controversial Alzheimer’s disease drug. Its human medicines committee (CHMP) issued a negative opinion on Biogen’s dossier during its December meeting this week, stating that the data from the key studies submitted in support of the application “were conflicting and did not show overall that Aduhelm was effective at treating adults with early stage Alzheimer’s disease.”
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Alvotech, BMS, Braeburn, Calliditas, Camurus, Daiichi, Innoskel, Mesoblast, Mitotech, Neuvivo, Nkarta, Novavax, Pfizer, Rakuten, Sobi, Verrica, Zai Lab.
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Firstkind, Implicity, Roche, Sky Medical Technology.
Fist Assist Devices LLC received a breakthrough device designation from the FDA for its Fist Assist Model FA-1 device for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The pre-surgical dilation device promotes arteriovenous (AV) fistula creation in renal failure patients with inadequate vein size for creation of an AV fistula for hemodialysis. An AV fistula is a surgical connection between an artery and a vein used as an access point for dialysis.
The FDA’s regulation of medical technology may be assumed to have a number of unintended consequences, and one of those seems to be the lawsuit between Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Auris Health Inc. Due to a 2018 FDA policy change regarding 510(k) devices, a robotic surgery system acquired by a J&J subsidiary from Auris was forced into the lengthier de novo premarket channel. This change ultimately helped derail the development effort for the Auris Iplatform surgical system and thus played a role in the $2.35 billion lawsuit alleging that J&J had engaged in fraud in its deal with Auris over the acquisition.
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Applied Biocode, Fist Assist, Mdoloris, Mindray.