Pharma News

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration expanded the approval of Mavyret (glecaprevir and pibrentasvir) tablets for an eight-week duration for the treatment of adults and children ages 12 years and older or weighing at least 99 pounds who have chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 infection and compensated cirrhosis and have not been previously treated for HCV (treatment-naïve). Mavyret is now the first eight-week treatment approved for all treatment-naïve adult and certain pediatric patients with HCV genotypes 1-6 both without cirrhosis and with compensated cirrhosis. Standard treatment length for patients with compensated cirrhosis was previously 12 weeks or more.

Marketing authorisation holders of medicines containing liposomal drug delivery systems are requested to submit a variation to change the names of liposomal medicines, but only if there is a high risk of medication errors which would raise concerns regarding the safe use of the medicinal product.

EMA’s human medicines committee (CHMP) is requesting as a matter of precaution that marketing authorisation holders for human medicines containing chemically synthesised active substances review their medicines for the possible presence of nitrosamines and test all products at risk. If nitrosamines are detected in any of their medicines, marketing authorisation holders must inform authorities promptly so that appropriate regulatory actions can be taken.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a suite of guidances to continue to encourage innovative approaches to the development of digital health tools, and to ensure the agency’s approach to overseeing these technologies advances along with it.
Patients, their families and their health care professionals are increasingly embracing digital health technologies to inform everyday decisions, from tools that more easily report blood glucose levels to smart watches that can detect atrial fibrillation. These tools provide patients with a wealth of easily-accessible information that can help them make better and more efficient decisions, take steps to improve their lifestyles and health choices, and experience better outcomes.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting health care professionals and patients of a voluntary recall of 14 lots of prescription ranitidine capsules distributed by Sandoz Inc., used to decrease the amount of acid created by the stomach. This recall is due to a nitrosamine impurity, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), which was found in the recalled medicine. NDMA is classified as a probable human carcinogen (a substance that could cause cancer).

The National Institutes of Health has awarded approximately $35 million in new grants in fiscal year (FY) 2019 to advance research on Down syndrome through the Investigation of Co-occurring Conditions Across the Lifespan to Understand Down Syndrome (INCLUDE) project. These awards bolster total funding for Down syndrome research in FY 2019 to an estimated $77 million.

EMA has launched a new webpage that shows the progress made by the Agency in the implementation of the new Veterinary Medicines Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2019/6), which becomes applicable on 28 January 2022. On this webpage, stakeholders can find all relevant information regarding EMA’s scientific and technical recommendations to the European Commission that will feed into delegated and implementing acts as part of the implementation of the legislation, as well as updates on other activities such as the preparation for implementation progresses.

EMA’s Patients' and Consumers' Working Party (PCWP) has re-elected Kaisa Immonen of the European Patients' Forum (EPF) as co-chair and the Healthcare Professionals' Working Party (HCPWP) has elected Ulrich Jäger of the European Hematology Association (EHA) as new co-chair. They will co-chair the meetings of their respective working parties together with Juan Garcia Burgos, Head of Public Engagement at EMA, for the next three years. The vote took place during the September 2019 meeting of both working parties.

Addressing opioid overdose continues to be one of the most urgent public health priorities for the U.S. government and making potentially lifesaving treatments more readily available is one of the top ways we can address this crisis. As we observe Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week, a time when we acknowledge the devastating toll the opioid crisis has inflicted on our country, we felt it was essential to clarify important information about naloxone, an emergency opioid overdose reversal treatment. Naloxone is a critical tool for individuals, families, first responders and communities to help reduce opioid overdose deaths.

The Committee recommended granting a marketing authorisation for Xospata* (gilteritinib) for the treatment of adult patients who have relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) with a FLT3 mutation. AML is a rare type of cancer of the white blood cells (cells that fight infections). It affects approximately 1 in 10,000 people in the European Union. Xospata was reviewed under EMA's accelerated assessment procedure, reserved for medicines of major public health interest.