Regulatory Oversight and Compliance

EMA has started evaluating RoActemra (tocilizumab), an anti-inflammatory medicine, as a potential treatment for hospitalized adult patients with severe COVID-19.

The user fees set for fiscal year 2022 are noteworthy, as their announcement comes as FDA and industry are finalizing agreements for new five-year user fee programs.

FDA granted orphan drug designation to Paratek Pharmaceuticals for NUZYRA (omadacycline), an investigational antibiotic.

UK's ABPI responds to the latest revisions being made to NICE methods for assessment of drugs and devices.

FDA approves Merck’s Welireg for the treatment of adult patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease who require therapy for tumor growth.

WHO’s solidarity plus trial will enroll hospitalized patients to test artesunate, imatinib, and infliximab in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Lilly’s insulin, lyumjev, receives FDA approval for an expanded label.

Cipla receives final approval from FDA for its abbreviated new drug application for difluprednate ophthalmic emulsion 0.05%.

FDA has granted its first approval for an idiopathic hypersomnia treatment.

FDA has opened a public docket soliciting feedback on the regulation process surrounding PANDAs.

The agency has amended the emergency use authorizations for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines to allow certain immunocompromised people to receive an additional dose of the vaccine.

FDA has awarded Fast Track designation to Vivet Therapeutics’ novel gene therapy, VTX-801.

The EC has approved the drug in the EU for treatment of chronic kidney disease in adults with or without type-2 diabetes.

The MHRA has approved GW Pharmaceuticals’ Epidiolex for the treatment of seizures associated with tuberous sclerosis complex.

The agency is endorsing recommendations for global track-and-trace systems developed by the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities.

Emergent BioSolutions has been granted approval from FDA to ship certain lots of their AstraZeneca vaccine.

The agency’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee recommended updating the product information for Janssen’s COVID-19 vaccine to list immune thrombocytopenia as an adverse reaction.

EMA’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee has requested more data for its evaluation of reports of Guillain-Barré syndrome after vaccination.

FDA has approved the intravenous medication Nexviazyme for treatment of Pompe Disease.

The guidance aids in the development, validation, and use of near infrared-based analytical procedures.

Syntec receives warning letter where FDA finds deviations from CGMP for APIs.

EC has confirmed that the entry into application of the Clinical Trials Regulation and, as such, the go-live date for the Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) will be Jan. 31, 2022.

Bristol Myers Squibb has been granted approval by the European Commission for Opdivo (nivolumab) as an adjuvant treatment

EMA’s CHMP has approved the increased manufacturing capacity and supply of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine active substance in its US manufacturing site.

CMA fines Advanz and investors for more than £100 million (approximately US$139 million) after the company increased the price of thyroid tablet packs from £20 (US$23.74) in 2009 to £248 (approximately US$295) in 2017.