Quality/GMPs

Susan J. Schniepp, distinguished fellow at Regulatory Compliance Associates, answers some commonly asked questions about aseptic processing.

FDA granted orphan drug designation to Catalyst Biosciences’ MarzAA for the treatment of Factor VII Deficiency.

FDA approved AbbVie’s Qulipta (atogepant) as a preventative migraine treatment.

GeneTx Biotherapeutics and Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical announced that FDA has removed the clinical hold on GTX-102, an investigational treatment for Angelman syndrome.

The lack of a new permanent commissioner has hampered FDA in articulating future priorities and pushing back against miscommunications and outside complaints.

Biosimilar approvals and the advance of biosimilar testing and production may lead to greater access to alternative therapies.

The first and only approved antibody-drug conjugate for the treatment of recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer with disease progression on or after chemotherapy receives accelerated approval by FDA.

The agency approved Byooviz (ranibizumab-nuna), a biosimilar to Lucentis (ranibizumab injection), for the treatment of several eye diseases.

Pfizer-BioNTech announced plans to seek FDA approval this month of a smaller dose of its Comirnaty vaccine for children ages 5–11.

FDA advisors agreed unanimously on a more limited booster plan after rejecting Pfizer’s original request to authorize its third shot for everyone over age 16.

Health Canada approved the new drug submission for Spikevax—more commonly known as the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine—for active immunization to prevent COVID-19 in individuals 12 years of age and older.

FDA revised the emergency use authorization for bamlanivimab and etesevimab (administered together) to include emergency use as post-exposure prophylaxis (prevention) for COVID-19.

Democrats failed to gain sufficient support to advance long-debated legislation to permit Medicare drug price negotiations.

Takeda’s Exkivity (mobocertinib) was approved by FDA for the treatment of patients with lung cancer.

FDA and EMA will provide scientific advice to applicants concerning complex generic and hybrid products.

HUTCHMED’s amdizalisib (HMPL-689) received breakthrough therapy designation for the treatment of a subtype of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Janssen’s Invega Hayfera is the first six-month injectable schizophrenia treatment approved by FDA.

The White House announced a nearly $3 billion program to ramp up production of vaccines and their components.

The orphan drug designation for TCR² Therapeutics’ Gavo-cel will facilitate research into a treatment for cholangiocarcinoma.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations stated that developing the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines will only be possible if comparator vaccines are available for clinical trials.

FDA placed a clinical hold on the BMN 307 Phearless Phase I/II study, which was evaluating an investigational PAH gene therapy in adults with PKU.

Impel Neuropharma’s Trudhesa, a nasal spray, received FDA approval for treating migraines in adults with and without aura.

FDA clearance of trans sodium crocetinate allows Diffusion to proceed with their latest Phase II oxygenation trial.

Proposed changes to rules governing the commercialization of technologies developed with federal funding prompts significant stakeholder feedback.

SK and GSK announce the initiation of a Phase III clinical study of SK’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate, GBP510, in combination with GSK’s pandemic adjuvant.

Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics announced the initiation of the Phase III clinical trial to evaluate an investigational oral antiviral therapeutic for the prevention of COVID-19 infection.

Two of FDA’s vaccine regulators will be leaving in the fall of 2021, which has the potential to impact COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for both children under the age of 12 and booster shots.

As interest in cell and gene therapies continues to grow, the need for safe and consistent reagents to support research, development, and manufacture efforts also increases.

BioPharm International asked Vincent Colicchio, vice president, supply chain and external manufacturing at Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, about how a lack of proper supplier oversight can impact the pharmaceutical industry and the drug supply chain.

The European Commission has granted marketing authorization to Incyte and MorphoSys for Minjuvi (tafasitamab) in combination therapy with lenalidomide to treat relapsed or refractory DLBCL.