A US court has denied AstraZeneca?s request for a preliminary injunction against FDA.
A US court has denied AstraZeneca’s request for a preliminary injunction against FDA. AstraZeneca filed a lawsuit against the agency at the beginning of March 2012 with regards to the antipsychotic medicines Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) and Seroquel XR.
The injunction had sought to prevent FDA from granting final marketing approval to a generic version of quetiapine until December 2012. Prior to the injunction, AstraZeneca had filed Citizen Petitions with FDA last year concerning labeling issues for generic drugs. Seroquel is required to carry warnings about hyperglycemia and suicidal thoughts, but the same labeling may not be needed for generic versions of the drug. AstraZeneca’s Citizen Petitions attested that generic quetiapine should require the same warning labels and that FDA should withhold approving any generic form of the medicine that does not include such labeling.
FDA denied the petition earlier this month.
The US is not the only territory where AstraZeneca faces loss of market exclusivity for Seroquel. Last week, a court in the UK ruled that the formulation patent protecting Seroqeul XR was invalid. The patent had been challenged by several generic drug manufacturers, including Accord Healthcare, Intas Pharmaceuticals, Hexal, Sandoz, Teva UK, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. Teva UK launched a generic version of Seroquel in the UK on Mar. 27, 2012.
According to a blog from Pharmaceutical Executive, the core patent for Seroquel IR expired in September last year and pediatric patent is due to expire soon. Seroquel XR reportedly still has protection until 2017, but according to a press statement, AstraZeneca is engaged in numerous proceedings related to the drug and its related patents and regulatory exclusivity.
Harnessing mRNA as a Readout to Develop Robust BioPotency Assays
December 12th 2024Transcriptional activity within a cell can be used to evaluate cell response to a ligand or promoter activity within a transgene or plasmid within a cell. Catalent has developed a relative potency bioassay using real-time quantitative reverse transcription (RT-qPCR) in a duplex format to assess relative transcription activity in cells treated with ligands or transgenic vectors. The assay utilizes two fluorescent dyes with minimally overlapping emission spectra that allow real-time monitoring of the gene expression of both target and normalizer genes. The assay does not require purification of the mRNA produced by the cells once lysis has occurred. Normalizing the qPCR cycle thresholds (CT) of the target transcript to the reference transcript allows response curve to be generated and compared to a reference standard. The generation of a four-parameter fit curve analysis from raw qPCR cycle threshold data allows for comparison of relative potency and assessment of suitability based on curve parallelism. The assay platform has been used by Catalent to qualify a repeatable, accurate, linear, and specific bioassay for assessing relative potency.
The Solution Lies with SOLBIOTE™: Achieving Sustainability, a Growing Focus in Biopharma
October 28th 2024The nexus between biopharmaceuticals and sustainability is seemingly far apart, however, it is increasingly recognized as an inevitable challenge. It is encouraged to take a sustainable approach to reducing the environmental impact of the production and supply of medicines while improving people's health; delivering the well-being of people and the planet. Yosuke Shimojo (Technical Value Support Section Manager, Nagase Viita) will unveil how SOLBIOTE™, a portfolio of injectable-grade saccharide excipients, would be a key for the biopharmaceutical development and achieving sustainability for a better future of the industry.
Exploring New and Improved Analytical Methods for Traditional and Unique Modalities
December 12th 2024Biophysical characterization is critical to understand the make-up and behaviors of biologic therapies and vaccines, both early in development and throughout the manufacturing scale-up process. As biologics become more complex in structure, and as scientists improve their understanding of the effects of structure on stability, efficacy, safety, etc., there is a need to develop new and improved analytical methods to characterize biologic products. During this presentation, experts will discuss the latest challenges in biophysical characterization and will present solutions to overcome these challenges.