USFDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is committed to helping facilitate American patients’ access to lower-cost generic medicines by taking steps to enhance and streamline the development and approval process of high-quality generic drugs. The U.S. already has one of the most effective and efficient generic markets in the world. Generic drugs represented 90% of U.S. prescriptions dispensed in 2017, and the FDA approved or tentatively approved more than 2,000 generic drug applications in 2017 and 2018 alone. But, there is more we may be able to do to facilitate a stable, competitive market.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration finalized its guidance for manufacturers submitting new tobacco product applications through the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) pathway for electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), such as e-cigarettes or “vapes,” and the liquid nicotine and nicotine-containing e-liquids used with such products, as part of the agency’s continued commitment to its oversight of tobacco products.

Luxembourg and the Netherlands were included into the mutual recognition agreementbetween the European Union (EU) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA thus confirmed the capability of these two additional EU Member States to carry out good manufacturing practice (GMP) inspections at a level equivalent to the United States (US). The agreement mutually recognises inspections of manufacturing sites for human medicines conducted in the different territories and this means that the FDA will now rely on a total of 26 Member States whose inspection results can replace their own inspections.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has sent an untitled letter to R3 Stem Cell, LLC of Scottsdale, Arizona, and its chief executive officer, David Greene, M.D. The company, through its affiliated centers or clinics throughout the U.S., offers unapproved stem cell products to treat a variety of diseases and conditions, such as Lyme disease, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, kidney failure and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The products offered by R3 Stem Cell, LLC are not approved by the FDA.

The FDA has notified each of R3 Stem Cell, LLC’s more than 50 affiliate centers or clinics of this action.

Novartis announced the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Piqray (alpelisib, formerly BYL719) in combination with fulvestrant for the treatment of postmenopausal women, and men, with hormone receptor positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 negative (HR+/HER2-), PIK3CA-mutated, advanced or metastatic breast cancer, as detected by an FDA-approved test following progression on or after an endocrine-based regimen.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning patients and health care professionals of risks associated with the use of unapproved or unauthorized devices for diabetes management, including continuous glucose monitoring systems, insulin pumps and automated insulin dosing systems.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has posted warning letters to five companies who produce products labeled as homeopathic for significant violations of current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) regulations. Four of the warning letters pertain to companies who jointly produced a product labeled as homeopathic that posed a significant safety risk to consumers because their purportedly sterile products were not shown to be sterile. An additional letter outlines a company’s failure to have systems in place to assure proper design, monitoring, and control of manufacturing processes.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plays an important role in helping to address the high cost of medicines through the development of science-based policies that can improve competition and patient access to safe and effective, high-quality and lower cost generic drugs, biosimilars and interchangeable biologics.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Vyndaqel (tafamidis meglumine) and Vyndamax (tafamidis) capsules for the treatment of the heart disease (cardiomyopathy) caused by transthyretin mediated amyloidosis (ATTR-CM) in adults. These are the first FDA-approved treatments for ATTR-CM. Vyndaqel and Vyndamax have the same active moiety, tafamidis, but they are not substitutable on a milligram to milligram basis and their recommended doses differ.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration  approved Ruzurgi (amifampridine) tablets for the treatment of Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) in patients 6 to less than 17 years of age. This is the first FDA approval of a treatment specifically for pediatric patients with LEMS. The only other treatment approved for LEMS is only approved for use in adults.