Regulatory Authority Actions

With no final nomination of FDA commissioner coming from the White House, concern has mounted among regulated industry and interested stakeholders that FDA operations and stature will suffer without a permanent commissioner able to articulate new policies and gain support for innovative programs.

Sagent Pharmaceuticals is voluntarily recalling three lots of Phenylephrine Hydrochloride Injection, USP (10 mg/mL) to the user level because of a customer complaint regarding potentially loose crimped vial overseals, which can result in a non-sterile product.

The European Medicines Agency and Health Canada have published clinical data used to support the authorization of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.

The agency is working to identify and obstruct scammers looking to profit from the pandemic.

The European Medicines Agency has begun a rolling review based on laboratory and clinical studies of the Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac).

The guidance document provides recommendations for reporting and implementing changes to container closure system components consisting of glass vials and stoppers for sterile drug products.

The EC has launched a structured dialogue aimed at gaining a better understanding of global medicines supply chains and to identify potential causes and drivers of vulnerabilities.

Reviews of FDA initiatives and activities recapitulate efforts to assess and approve new drugs, generic drugs, and biologics and strategies for advancing new initiatives.

To prevent future production delays of critical products, the Biden administration is examining supply chain vulnerabilities for pharmaceutical ingredients as part of a longer-range consideration of products important to public health.

Distribution of the first one-dose vaccine for COVID-19 to start in early March.

New data shows that the COVID-19 vaccines can be stored at standard freezer temperatures for up to two weeks.

The agency issued guidance for developers of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics to address variants of the COVID-19 virus.

FDA issued a public statement and press release, along with a sharp warning letter rebuking AcelRx Pharmaceuticals for its messaging on painkiller Dsuvia.

FDA published recommendations on the use of COVID-19 convalescent plasma or investigational convalescent plasma during the pandemic.

The company has pleaded guilty to violating the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act by failing to provide certain records to FDA investigators and will pay a criminal fine of $30 million, and forfeit an additional $20 million.

Scientists and policy makers are looking more sharply at the lag in identifying and producing medicines to moderate early infections and to treat seriously ill patients.

The EUA is based on positive results from a Phase III trial that showed bamlanivimab and etesevimab together reduced the risk of COVID-19 hospitalizations and death by 70%.

The selection of a new FDA commissioner has become a contentious issue in Washington, as the White House delays a decision and interest groups line up behind competing candidates.

The cell therapy will be manufactured for each individual patient at BMS’ immunotherapy manufacturing facility in Bothell, WA, and will be launched across a network of treatment centers.

FDA considers regulatory flexibility to allow the agency and sponsors to adapt and pivot to changes in coronavirus.

FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will meet on Feb. 26, 2021 to discuss the request for emergency use authorization for Janssen Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

FDA puts applications on hold as the agency limits alternative oversight methods.

With Democrats controlling Congress and the White House, expectations are high that policy makers will revise certain coverage and payment policies.

FDA published guidance that includes risk-based recommendations for minimizing the potential transmission of COVID-19.

The European Medicines Agency has recommended granting conditional marketing authorization for AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine.

Woodcock will serve as acting commissioner of FDA, taking over for Stephen Hahn, FDA’s previous acting commissioner.

Verquvo is a soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator for the reduction of the risk of cardiovascular death and heart failure hospitalization in adults with symptomatic chronic heart failure.

The approval was based on positive results from a single-arm Phase II trial where the treatment demonstrated significant antitumor activities in patients with the disease.

A report on the FDA PREPP initiative’s work in 2020 aims to strengthen the Agency’s response to future public health emergencies.