China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) approved Ocumension Therapeutics Ltd.’s and Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s drug-device combination product, Yutiq (fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal implant), for chronic non-infectious uveitis affecting the posterior segment of the eye.

While the World Trade Organization (WTO) is taking a victory lap for getting a five-year intellectual property (IP) waiver across the finish line for COVID-19 vaccines, the accomplishment is being panned by spectators on both sides of the track.

Medical device supply chain considerations became especially salient during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the U.S. FDA is interested in ensuring that supply chains do not hamper patient access going forward. However, Clayton Hall of the Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA) said on a recent FDA webinar that device makers are sometimes at the mercy of their suppliers.

Biocartis Group NV received CE-marking of its Idylla Gene Fusion lung cancer biomarker test. The automated panel is designed to detect chromosomal translocations that generate fusion genes and cause non-small-lung cancer (NSCLC). Mechelen, Belgium-based diagnostics company Biocartis recently reported results from a study that found the assay enables rapid screening with quicker turnaround and lower tissue requirements compared to standard methods.

The U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is still considering a drastic overhaul of the 2002 medical device regulatory framework, but may have sent a signal that its new framework won’t deviate too far from established regulatory approaches.

China will continue to ramp up volume-based procurement (VBP) policies that bring down drug and device prices for public hospitals with volume. Governmental agencies at the local and national levels coordinate drug prices via government-organized procurement programs that include VBP and pricing negotiations for inclusion on the National Reimbursable Drug List.