Why remote drug manufacturing evaluations won’t really reduce FDA’s backlog of inspections

April 21, 2021 01:10 PM EDTUpdated April 22, 05:47 AM

Why remote drug manufacturing evaluations won't really reduce FDA's backlog of inspections

Zachary Brennan

Senior Editor

For the first several months of the pandemic last spring, the FDA continued to plow through its user fee-enabled work on new drug and biologic applications, meeting nearly all of its goal dates.

But by last fall and into the winter, complete response letters and other delays began arriving in companies’ mailboxes as the agency struggled to catch up to a growing backlog of both domestic and foreign drug manufacturing inspections.

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Healthcare Disparities and Sickle Cell Disease

Frank Lee

CEO of Forma Therapeutics

In the complicated U.S. healthcare system, navigating a serious illness such as cancer or heart disease can be remarkably challenging for patients and caregivers. When that illness is classified as a rare disease, those challenges can become even more acute. And when that rare disease occurs in a population that experiences health disparities, such as people with sickle cell disease (SCD) who are primarily Black and Latino, challenges can become almost insurmountable.

September 22, 2021 06:56 AM EDTUpdated 01:34 PM

Startups

The Endpoints 11: They've got mad money and huge ambitions. It's time to go big or go home

John Carroll

Editor & Founder

These days, selecting a group of private biotechs for the Endpoints 11 spotlight begins with a sprint to get ahead of IPOs and the M&A teams at Big Pharma. I’ve had a couple of faceplants earlier this year, watching some of the biotechs on my short list choose a quick leap onto Nasdaq or into the arms of a buyer.

Vividion, you would have been a great pick for the Endpoints 11. I’m sorry I missed you.

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Dave Lennon, former president of Novartis Gene Therapies

September 21, 2021 03:29 PM EDTUpdated 21 hours ago

People

Bioregnum

So what happened with Novartis Gene Therapies? Here's your answer

Over the last couple of days it’s become clear that the gene therapy division at Novartis has quietly undergone a major reorganization. We learned on Monday that Dave Lennon, who had pursued a high-profile role as president of the unit with 1,500 people, had left the pharma giant to take over as CEO of a startup.

Like a lot of the majors, Novartis is an open highway for head hunters, or anyone looking to staff a startup. So that was news but not completely unexpected.

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ENDPOINTS CAREERS

Senior Analyst, Oncology

Brass Tacks Health

Remote

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September 22, 2021 10:06 AM EDTUpdated 10:36 AM

FDA+

FDA+ roundup: BsUFA III ready for showtime, court tells FDA to re-work compounding plan, new guidance updates and more

Zachary Brennan

Senior Editor

The FDA has now spelled out what exactly will be included in the third iteration of Biosimilar User Fee Act (BsUFA) from 2023 through 2027, which similarly to the prescription drug deal, sets fees that industry has to pay for submitting applications, in exchange for firm timelines that the agency must meet.

This latest deal includes several sweeteners for the biosimilar industry, which has yet to make great strides in the US market, with shorter review timelines for safety labeling updates and updates to add or remove an indication that does not contain efficacy data.

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September 21, 2021 06:49 AM EDT

Editor's note

Who are the women supercharging biopharma R&D? Nominate them for this year's special report

Nicole DeFeudis

Editor

The biotech industry has faced repeated calls to diversify its workforce — and in the last year, those calls got a lot louder. Though women account for just under half of all biotech employees around the world, they occupy very few places in C-suites, and even fewer make it to the helm.

Some companies are listening, according to a recent BIO survey which showed that this year’s companies were 2.5 times more likely to have a diversity and inclusion program compared to last year’s sample. But we still have a long way to go. Women represent just 31% of biotech executives, BIO reported. And those numbers are even more stark for women of color.

Jacob Van Naarden (Eli Lilly)

September 20, 2021 01:15 PM EDTUpdated 02:06 PM

Bioregnum

Exclusives: Eli Lilly out to crash the megablockbuster PD-(L)1 party with 'disruptive' pricing; reveals cancer biotech buyout

Paul Schloesser

Editorial Intern

John Carroll

Editor & Founder

It’s taken 7 years, but Eli Lilly is promising to finally start hammering the small and affluent PD-(L)1 club with a “disruptive” pricing strategy for their checkpoint therapy allied with China’s Innovent.

Lilly in-licensed global rights to sintilimab a year ago, building on the China alliance they have with Innovent. That cost the pharma giant $200 million in cash upfront, which they plan to capitalize on now with a long-awaited plan to bust up the high-price market in lung cancer and other cancers that have created a market worth tens of billions of dollars.

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September 22, 2021 07:47 PM EDTUpdated 5 hours ago

Coronavirus

FDA authorizes Pfizer's vaccine booster for seniors, those at high risk for severe Covid-19

Zachary Brennan

Senior Editor

The Biden administration’s goal of kicking off its booster shot drive for the entire US population this week is not quite going as planned.

First, Pfizer applied for approval of a supplemental application for the booster shots, but since last Friday’s adcomm reviewing them, the plan has devolved into an EUA, which the FDA issued late Thursday evening.

The population that is now eligible for the booster, six months after receiving the first pair of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, also narrowed from what Pfizer applied for (everyone who’s eligible for the initial Pfizer shots) to just those who are 65 or older, or at high-risk of a Covid infection, including health care workers and others with occupational hazards.

ENDPOINTS CAREERS

Senior Scientific Research Analyst

American Association for Cancer Research

Philadelphia, PA, USA

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Stéphane Bancel, AP Images

September 22, 2021 05:00 PM EDT

Coronavirus

Final analysis of US-funded Moderna Covid vaccine trial shows 98% efficacy against severe disease

Zachary Brennan

Senior Editor

A final look at the results of the placebo-controlled Moderna trial in the New England Journal of Medicine, published Thursday afternoon, shows how the vaccine continues to prevent Covid-19 and severe cases after more than five months following the second shot.

Of the more than 30,000 enrolled in the trial that ultimately led to the vaccine’s EUA, only two people in the vaccine group got a severe form of the disease, compared to 106 in the placebo group — leading to an efficacy of 98%.

September 21, 2021 08:16 AM EDTUpdated 10:27 AM

FDA+

When efficacy is borderline: FDA needs to get more consistent on close-call drug approvals, agency-funded research finds

Zachary Brennan

Senior Editor

In the exceedingly rare instances in which clinical efficacy is the only barrier to a new drug’s approval, new FDA-funded research from FDA and Stanford found that the agency does not have a consistent standard for defining “substantial evidence” when flexible criteria are used for an approval.

The research comes as the FDA is at a crossroads with its expedited-review pathways. The accelerated approval pathway is under fire as the agency recently signed off on a controversial new Alzheimer’s drug, with little precedent to explain its decision. Meanwhile, top officials like Rick Pazdur have called for a major push to simplify and clarify all of the various expedited pathways, which have grown to be must-haves for sponsors of nearly every newly approved drug.

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