Regulatory
Senator Bill Cassidy voted with fellow Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday morning to move forward the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for HHS secretary.
Amid growing concern of the overuse and misuse of obesity drugs, the UK’s pharmacies regulator rolled out stricter guidelines for online pharmacies selling medicines including Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro.
The rare disease space is awaiting two FDA verdicts in February, one for a genetic disease and another for a non-malignant tumor.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—Trump’s pick for HHS secretary who endured confirmation hearings last week—has repeatedly criticized industry ties to the FDA, particularly financial links between the two, which could indicate trouble for the user-fee model.
The approval of Axsome Therapeutics’ Symbravo for migraine with or without aura came alongside the greenlight for Vertex’s non-opioid treatment Journavx.
Senators on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee were critical of Kennedy’s long history as an anti-vaccine campaigner.
The greenlight for Journavx (suzetrigine), which comes on the heels of a $7.4 billion opioid settlement, could spark momentum in the fledgling non-opioid pain space.
The approval continues the trend of GLP-1s expanding into indications outside of diabetes and weight loss.
Ahead of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearings, experts—and RFK’s own family—expressed concerns about his vaccine-related views, though the same experts are largely unfazed by the level of power he and Marty Makary could ultimately wield over the FDA.
Enhertu’s label expansion comes on the heels of the FDA’s approval of the partners’ Datroway for a related type of breast cancer.
PRESS RELEASES