Regulatory Authority Actions

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.

FDA sent a warning letter to Kyowa Hakko Bio Co., Ltd. after inspectors found data integrity problems at the company’s Yamaguchi, Japan facility.

Guidances for regulatory changes, batch testing, and reporting address situations resulting from “no-deal” Brexit scenario.

As a contingency against border delays resulting from a “no-deal” Brexit, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) directs pharma companies to stock extra medicines.

FDA approved the first generic version of EpiPen and EpiPen Jr (epinephrine) auto-injector.

FDA sent a warning letter to Apotex Research Private Limited after investigators found current good manufacturing practice violations.

FDA published a resource guide to promote responsible opioid prescribing in the treatment of animals.

The new drug, Onpattro (patisiran), by Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, is in a new class of drugs called small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) treatment.