Regulatory Authority Actions

To achieve a more dynamic marketplace, FDA is issuingguidance documents and targeted advisories to support R&D on complex generics and combination products.

The US Department of Health and Human Services has published its proposed rule on the disclosure of drug prices, just in time for the November mid-term elections.

The guidance describes the agency's recommendations on how to group patients with different molecular alterations and approaches for evaluating the benefits and risks of targeted therapies where some molecular alterations may occur at low frequencies.

The agency is developing technology- and disease-specific regulatory frameworks for innovations that may not have previously had a clear development pathway.

The new guidance, Rare Diseases: Early Drug Development and the Role of Pre-IND Meetings Guidance for Industry, discusses the planning of pre-IND meetings with FDA and sponsors.

Congress approves bills with provisions important to FDA and industry, some of which reflect continuing concerns about drug pricing and transparency.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has opened a consultation to seek views on how legislations and procedures of the agency may need to be modified should there be a ‘no-deal’ Brexit scenario.

Insmed’s Arikayce (amikacin liposome inhalation suspension) is the first drug approved under the agency’s Limited Population Pathway for Antibacterial and Antifungal Drugs, established to support development of antibiotics for unmet medical needs.

FDA is joining with other federal health agencies and the biomedical research community to advance the science, regulatory policies, and reimbursement strategies to support innovation in antimicrobials.

As Europe and the United Kingdom are facing the ever-expanding shadow of Brexit, a keynote session taking place at CPhI Worldwide in Madrid will look to assess the wider implications of the UK’s exit from the European Union on the Pharma sector.

The agency sent a warning letter to the Indian company after an inspection found CGMP violations that included a lack of written procedures and analytical testing.

The company’s biosimiliar to Amgen’s Neulasta (pegfilgrastim) received a positive opinion for marketing authorization from the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP).

The sterile-manufacturing contract development manufacturing organization is approved by FDA for viral vector manufacturing fill/finish processing at its biologics facility in Scotland, UK.

The European Medicines Agency revised the number of centrally authorized medicines for which there are concerns over Brexit-related supply disruptions.

The agency has entered into an agreement with the National Academies of Science, Engineering & Medicine and has expanded agreements with the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University Centers for Regulatory Science and Innovation to conduct research on the compounding of drugs.

The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended 13 new medicines for approval, including three orphan drug candidates.

The European Medicines Agency has recommended Luxturna (voretigene neparvovec) as the first treatment option for hereditary retinal dystrophy with mutations of the RPE65 gene.

The agreement now includes 15 European Union (EU) member states.

The agency will review Praluent (alirocumab) Injection, a PCSK9 inhibitor, as a possible treatment of cardiovascular events.

FDA sent a warning letter to Lernapharm (Loris) Inc. detailing the company’s lack of procedures to prevent microbiological contamination.

FDA testing has found an additional impurity, N-Nitrosodiethylamine, in the API valsartan.

The agency approved AstraZeneca’s Lumoxiti (moxetumomab pasudotox-tdfk) injection for intravenous use for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory hairy cell leukemia.

FDA is revising its inspection process and seeks harmonization of standards for US and foreign regulatory oversight to ensure the safety of medicines.

FDA, innovator companies, and biosimilar developers maneuver over exclusivity, naming, interchangeability, and more.

As it investigates the root cause of an impurity discovered in valsartan, FDA extends its studies to APIs with similar synthesis processes.

More consistent and reliable production processes are critical for advancing innovative treatments.

The European Commission (EC) has approved GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) Nucala (mepolizumab) as an add-on treatment for severe refractory eosinophilic asthma in pediatric patients six to 17 years old.

The European Commission (EC) has approved Novartis’ chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) cell therapy Kymriah for the treatment of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy.

The Senate approved a $159-million budget increase for FDA, to bring its resources up to $5.4 billion for 2019, including more than $2 billion in user fees.

Dompé Farmaceutici’s Oxervate (cenegermin), a topical eye drop, is the first treatment approved by the agency for neurotrophic keratitis, a rare disease affecting the cornea.