Hookipa Pharma Inc. has received clearance from the U.S. FDA for its IND application for HB-700, a novel arenaviral therapeutic vaccine for the treatment of KRAS-mutated cancers. The HB-700 program is a replicating 2-vector therapy designed to treat KRAS-mutated lung, colorectal, pancreatic and other cancers by targeting the five most prevalent KRAS mutations in these disease indications.
The U.S. FDA approved Utility Therapeutics Ltd.’s Pivya (pivmecillinam), an oral prodrug of injectable mecillinam, on its April 24 PDUFA date for female adults with uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis and Staphylococcus saprophyticus.
The EU has declared that it will investigate the anticompetitive practices of the People’s Republic of China where medical devices are concerned, a clear sign that device makers in the European Union succeeded in persuading Brussels that the Made in China 2025 initiative represents an intolerable form of economic adversarialism.
South Korean med-tech companies Nunaps Co. Ltd. and Share & Service are the latest to clear domestic approvals for digital therapeutics as the government ramps up R&D funding for artificial intelligence-based medical technologies.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s final rule for noncompete clauses in employment contracts would seem to endanger life science patents and trade secrets, but there is a question of whether the agency stepped outside its statutory bounds in forming the rule. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has already filed suit on the rule, but Joshua Rich of McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP told BioWorld, that the Chamber is unlikely to be the last entity to file suit over the rule.
The process of manufacturing autologous T-cell therapies is technically challenging when compared with other oncology drugs, making the overall cost of developing CAR T therapies significantly higher. A challenging reimbursement environment for drugs listed on China’s National Reimbursement Drug List also means that most patients will have to pay out of pocket to access CAR T therapies. Taken together, complex logistics – production, manufacturing and supply chain – and complicated administration requirements are key bottlenecks that inflate the input costs involved in developing these specialized treatment options.
The FDA has cleared Oncoc4 Inc.’s IND application for ONC-841, a potential first-in-class Siglec-10-blocking antibody for the treatment of solid tumors.
Becoming the first type II RAF inhibitor for relapsed or refractory BRAF-altered pediatric low-grade glioma, Day One Biopharmaceuticals Inc.’s Ojemda (tovorafenib, DAY-101) gained U.S. FDA accelerated approval on April 23, a week earlier than its expected PDUFA date, bringing the Brisbane, Calif.-based company a rare pediatric disease priority review voucher.
Samsung Bioepis Co. Ltd. and Celltrion Inc. are making headway in Europe and U.S. with respective follow-on biologic products, with Samsung Bioepis the latest to gain EMA approval for Pyzchiva, a Stelara (ustekinumab, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.) biosimilar, on April 23.
In March, the U.S. FDA approved 30 new drugs, marking the highest monthly count in BioWorld’s records. The previous highest month of June 2020, with 29 FDA approvals, is followed by November 2017’s 27 approvals.
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