Pharma News

EMA’s human medicines committee (CHMP) has adopted a positive opinion for Zynquista (sotagliflozin) intended as an adjunct to insulin for certain patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

EMA’s human medicines committee (CHMP) has recommended granting a conditional marketing authorisationin the European Union for Ondexxya (andexanet alfa). This medicine is to be used as an antidote for adult patients taking the anticoagulant (clot-preventing) medicines apixaban or rivaroxaban, when reversal of their action is needed due to life-threatening or uncontrolled bleeding.

The European Medicines Agency has recommended granting a conditional marketing authorisation (CMA) for Waylivra (volanesorsen), the first medicine for the treatment of the familial chylomicronaemia syndrome (FCS).

U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the launch of the Tri-Agency Task Force for Emergency Diagnostics. This task force has been created to help leverage the expertise of each agency to advance rapid development and deployment of diagnostic tests in clinical and public health laboratories during public health emergencies.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of adult illness and death due to chronic non-communicable diseases in India.   India is witnessing a steady rise in cancer incidence.  The number of incident-cases has risen from 8 lakh in 2004 to an estimated 15 lakh (annually) by 2018.  Even with nearly two third of patients eventually dying of this disease, an estimated 22.5 lakh patients are currently living with cancer in India.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a proposed rule that would update regulatory requirements for most sunscreen products in the United States.

This significant action is aimed at bringing nonprescription, over-the-counter (OTC) sunscreens that are marketed without FDA-approved applications up to date with the latest science to better ensure consumers have access to safe and effective preventative sun care options. Among its provisions, the proposal addresses sunscreen active ingredient safety, dosage forms, and sun protection factor (SPF) and broad-spectrum requirements. It also proposes updates to how products are labeled to make it easier for consumers to identify key product information.

The Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products (Swissmedic) has started in 2019 to enter information on Good manufacturing practice (GMP) compliance as well as on manufacturing authorisations related to Swiss manufacturers into the European Union’s EudraGMDP database. This applies for all new or renewed manufacturing authorisations and the related GMP-certificates issued using new templates (similar to those of EMA). This will allow replacing the current practice of issuing paper documents, i.e. GMP certificates for certain regulatory procedures and therefore should lead to easier information-sharing and efficiency gains for all stakeholders.

A small pilot clinical study at the National Eye Institute (NEI) suggests that the drug nitisinone increases melanin production in some people with oculocutaneous albinism type 1B (OCA-1B), a rare genetic disease that causes pale skin and hair and poor vision. Increased melanin could help protect people with the condition against the sun’s UV rays and promote the development of normal vision. Study results were published in JCI Insight. NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Health spending is made up of government expenditure, out-of-pocket payments (people paying for their own care), and sources such as voluntary health insurance, employer-provided health programmes, and activities by non-governmental organizations.

EMA’s safety committee (PRAC) has recommended an EU-wide suspension of fenspiride
medicines, used in children and adults to relieve cough caused by lung diseases.