Regulatory Authority Actions

EC finalizes agreement to purchase millions of doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine.

A new FDA guidance provides answers to such questions about when the agency will seek to visit a site during the COVID-19 pandemic and how it will respond when a needed inspection cannot be conducted safely.

The agency provides recommendations for development and labeling of drugs to treat male patients with breast cancer.

The company has launched its biosimilar rituximab, Ritucad, for the Indian market.

The committee has given a positive opinion on the biosimilar bevacizumab for several cancer indications.

The companies received approval from the EC for Zercepac (HLX02), a biosimilar referencing Roche’s originator biologic, Herceptin (trastuzumab).

The guidance is intended to assist IND sponsors in determining the need for drug-drug interaction studies.

The White House initiative to encourage production of essential medicines in the United States calls on FDA to set the parameters for and implement main aspects of the program.

The European Medicines Agency recently approved two European Novartis sites in France and Switzerland for the commercial manufacturing of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell cell therapies.

The therapy, indicated for a rare form of B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, was developed by Kite, a Gilead company, which will manufacture the therapy at its facility in El Segundo, CA.

As biopharma companies and research institutes advance the development of COVID-19 vaccines, policy makers and health officials are debating strategies for ensuring fair and equitable distribution of anticipated preventives.

Efforts by regulators seek common approaches to clinical research and biopharmaceutical production needed to wipe out the coronavirus pandemic globally.

EMA has started a review of dexamethasone as a treatment for adults with COVID-19 who require respiratory support and have been admitted to hospital.

The approval comes after positive results were met in a single-arm, open-label study that resulted in FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation for the one-time therapy.

Patient advocates, research experts, and industry are calling for more user fee revenues to support CBER programs to advance innovative therapies.

Should therapies and vaccines be cheap or free in a pandemic and would that really dry up innovation?

Industry should be seeking more information from FDA on how it will restart its current inspection program.

The Committee for Human Medicinal Products (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has issued its final opinion on measures for companies to take that will limit the presence of nitrosamines in human medicines.

Global regulatory authorities have published a report describing the aligned positions on COVID-19 vaccine development, which were agreed upon by meeting participants of the second workshop on COVID-19 vaccine development.

The agency is hoping to restart performing on-site domestic inspections during the week of July 20, 2020 depending on factors such as the status of COVID-19 in the state of inspection and local rules and guidelines.

FDA officials are moving to clarify standards and requirements for vetting and approving viable preventives.

483s and Warning Letters Point to Inadequate Quality Oversight

Data and science must guide FDA in making pressure-filled COVID-19 vaccine and therapy approval decisions.

FDA can better monitor quality production of domestic versus foreign firms.

Phesgo is a fixed-dose-combination subcutaneous injection of Perjeta (pertuzumab) and Herceptin (trastuzumab) for treating HER2-positive breast cancer.

The complete response letter was issued for a biologics license application for Abicipar pegol, an investigational treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration, based on FDA’s determination of an unfavorable benefit–risk ratio.

The guidance document provides recommendations regarding data needed for the manufacturing, development, and approval of a COVID-19 vaccine.

FDA is placing emphasis on developing guidance documents more quickly and efficiently, and agency officials expect that such approaches may continue in the future.

Members of the European Commission, EMA, and FDA met in a virtual two-day meeting to discuss ongoing joint initiatives and upcoming priorities.

The agency will be waiving fees for scientific advice for academia developing orphan drugs.