Regulatory
During a perplexing advisory committee meeting in which FDA reviewers focused largely on the Phase 3 HOPE-3 trial’s secondary endpoint of cardiac function, experts pointed to “very fragile” data. The committee voted 9-3 against approval of deramiocel.
The FDA published briefing documents ahead of advisory committee meetings for therapies from Capricor Therapeutics and Replimune indicate an uphill battle for the biotechs; GSK and AstraZeneca outline ambitious plans in second quarter presentations; Sarepta taps Michael Severino as its new CEO; and Amgen launches its official defense of Tavneos.
The FDA’s rebuff of Replimune comes a day after the agency similarly called into question the Phase 3 trial for Capricor’s Duchenne muscular dystrophy cell therapy.
Summit Therapeutics revealed positive Western data last week from a Phase 3 trial of lung cancer candidate ivonescimab. In a flipped geographical clinical trials landscape, what more will be required for Summit and China-based partner Akeso—and other transnational tandems—to secure FDA approval?
The FDA will hold advisory committee meetings this week for previously rejected investigational therapies from Replimune and Capricor Therapeutics. Some industry leaders were surprised the meetings were called at all, while many have questioned the rationale behind them and other adcomms on deck.
Facing pressure around the world to withdraw the rare kidney disease drug Tavneos, Amgen has launched a robust defense with real-world evidence to support the product’s benefit-risk profile.
An unnamed pharma filed a citizen petition in April seeking reforms to the way the FDA publicly releases rejection letters, alleging that the policy “contravenes decades of agency practice.”
Second quarter earnings continue to roll with Novartis and Roche reporting this week; Eli Lilly’s AtaiBeckley buy for up to $3.8 billion offers clear “validation” for the fledgling psychedelics space; more drama unfolds at FDA as the agency goes back and forth on its policy of publishing complete response letters in real-time; and IPO fever continues.
The biopharma industry would do well to re-embrace the 505(b)(2) path, which allows sponsors to draw on previous findings around an existing drug even as they propose modifications to it.
If approved, Dyne Therapeutics’ zeleciment rostudirsen could “capture the majority” of the exon-51 Duchenne muscular dystrophy market, given its better efficacy and dosing profile versus Sarepta Therapeutics’ exon-skipping therapy Exondys 51, the current standard of care, according to Oppenheimer.
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