Industry News

The approval of eladocagene exuparvovec-tneq (Kebilidi) marks the first FDA approval for a gene therapy to treat AADC deficiency.

With the launch of the Institute for Cell Therapy Discovery and Innovation, the MD Anderson Cancer Center will bring together expertise in developing cell therapies for cancer, autoimmune diseases, and infections.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, has announced a £520 million (US$675 million) investment for manufacturing capacity in the United Kingdom, prompting academic and industry leaders to point out that funds should be used to train personnel.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation has committed DKK 600 million (US$87.4 million) towards the initial costs of the center housing the new supercomputer, which has the potential to accelerate drug discovery innovation.

The agency’s CHMP recommended drugs to treatments for hemophilia, two biosimilars for psoriasis, and two flu vaccines at their October meeting.

The draft joint network strategy for the EU until 2028 will be open for public consultation until Nov. 30, 2024.

This year's CPHI award winners emphasize achievements in pharma excellence.

The agency is working with the European medicines regulatory network to improve the assessment and approval process for new medications.

This Behind the Headlines news roundup panel discussion on recent news items includes updates regarding sickle cell therapies (e.g,, Pfizer’s withdrawal of Oxbryta and Vertex’s choosing of Lonza as the commercial manufacturer of Casgevy); Emergent BioSolutions $400 million BARDA contract for an mpox vaccine; and the first in a generation novel schizophrenia drug, Cobenfy (xanomeline and trospium chloride). The panel also examines investment revival with ARCH Ventures $3 billion biotech fund raise and the $3.6 billion for Flagship Pioneering. Rounding things out is a discussion on COVID-19-associated childhood myopia and patent thickets artificially keep the price of drugs high.

Results from the CPHI annual survey show that 49% of industry respondents are “highly positive” on the contract services sector seeing growth over the next 18 months.

FDA’s Darby Kozak provided commentary on the anniversary of the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984.

Approvals were recommended for treatments of ovarian cancer, lung cancer, bleeding disorders, respiratory disease, and more.

The agency is recommending the extension of the smallpox and mpox vaccine, Imvanex, to adolescents aged 12 to 17.

The critical APIs that this funding will contribute to are used in the treatment of asthma, diabetes, and anxiety disorders.

During a presentation at the PDA/FDA Joint Regulatory Conference, Nicholas Violand of Johnson & Johnson and Paul Palmer of Paul R. Palmer Limited discussed how aging facilities can impact the quality of pharmaceutical products.

The finalists for the 2024 CPHI Pharma Awards are spread across 14 categories, which include future leaders, women of the year, and an “at the heart of pharma” category.

CDER’s Jonathan Chapman, senior policy advisor, and Takeda’s Paulien Groll, head of Compliance Excellence, discussed how companies can be proactive with their CAPA strategies instead of reactive, at the 2024 PDA/FDA Joint Regulatory Conference.

This is the company’s largest single investment in the Sweden Biomanufacturing Center, in Södertälje, which opened in 2021.

A coordinated and international response is needed to help control the latest mpox outbreak in Africa.

Opaganib was given orphan drug designation for the treatment of neuroblastoma in children, which is rare, but the most common infancy malignancy.

The collaboration builds on Novartis’ acquisition of Chinook Therapeutics just over a year ago.

The approvals and authorizations come amid a late summer surge in the virus that is tracking a bit earlier than the early fall wave in the US in 2023.

The combination of Opdivo plus Yervoy is already established as a second-line treatment for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

Approximately 15% of all lung cancers diagnosed in the US are of the small-cell variety, and of those, 70% are considered extensive-stage.

Breyanzi demonstrated an overall high response rate in adults with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma in a Phase II study.

NexoBrid, a topically administered biological product, is now authorized for use in all age groups in the United States, European Union, and Japan.

Yorvipath is a prodrug of parathyroid hormone (PTH) (1-34), designed to be administered once daily to provide continuous exposure to released PTH.

AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo first entered into an agreement to develop Enhertu in March 2019, and the antibody-drug conjugate has since been approved for various groups in more than 65 countries.

The program, for which visits will be scheduled through September 2025, does not replace or supplement a regulatory inspection.

The reopening of comments addresses the addition of a warning to consumers that acetaminophen may cause skin irritation characterized by reddening, blisters, and rashes.