USFDA

Aortica Corporation  announced that FDA has approved a supplement to an ongoing Physician Sponsored IDE study sponsored by Dr. Benjamin Starnes – Chief of Vascular Surgery at the University of Washington (UW).  The supplement names Aortica as the supplier of both a Fenestration Alignment Software and a patient-specific 3-D printed fenestration template.

Amgen  announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review Amgen's Biologics License Application (BLA) for ABP 501, a biosimilar candidate to Humira® (adalimumab).

Immunocore, a world-leading biotechnology company developing novel T cell receptor (TCR) based biological drugs to treat cancer, infectious diseases and autoimmune disease,  announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation to its lead programme, IMCgp100, for the treatment of uveal melanoma. The Orphan Drug status qualifies Immunocore for a number of development incentives and will enable Immunocore to receive fast track registration for IMCgp100, its lead ImmTAC (Immune mobilising mTCR Against Cancer) therapeutic.

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Merck , known as MSD outside the United States and Canada,  announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the Biologics License Application (BLA) for bezlotoxumab, an investigational antitoxin for prevention of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection recurrence.

Fate Therapeutics, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of programmed cellular immunotherapeutics for cancer and immune disorders, announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the Company's investigational new drug (IND) application for ProTmune™, a programmed cellular immunotherapy consisting of donor-sourced mobilized peripheral blood cells which have been functionally modulated using two small molecules. The IND is now active and Fate Therapeutics plans to initiate a multi-center, randomized, controlled Phase 1/2 clinical trial in adult patients with hematologic malignancies undergoing mobilized peripheral blood (mPB) hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in mid-2016.

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Polyganics, a privately held medical technology company focused on the commercialization of proprietary products and technologies for peripheral nerve repair, neurosurgery, general surgery, as well as ear, nose & throat surgery,  announced it has received FDA 510(k) clearance for NEUROCAP, an innovative device designed to reduce painful neuroma formation and thereby facilitate tissue repair and regeneration.

Athenex, Inc. announced  that it has received United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) allowance to proceed in the clinic with its proprietary oral form of Docetaxel. This allowance to proceed represents Athenex’s sixth successful oncology investigational new drug (IND) application by the US FDA (5 oral anticancer drugs, one ointment) and the third such clinical drug candidate in Athenex’s oral absorption platform. Docetaxel is an established and effective high potency anti-cancer drug.

XTL Biopharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing its lead product for the treatment of lupus, announced the Company has received written guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in response to a pre-investigational new drug (IND) meeting package regarding its upcoming IND filing for its drug candidate, hCDR1. Based on the FDA's response, XTL plans to file its IND, and in the coming quarters initiate a global clinical trial for hCDR1 in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in the U.S., Europe and Israel.

Agenus Inc., an immuno-oncology company developing checkpoint modulator antibodies and cancer vaccines, announced  that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared the company's investigational new drug (IND) application for AGEN1884, an immune checkpoint modulator (CPM) antibody that binds to cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4). Clearance was also received for a second CPM antibody partnered with Incyte (NASDAQ: INCY) for INCAGN1876, which targets glucocorticoid-induced TNFR-related protein (GITR). Clinical trials for both candidates are expected to begin in the first half of 2016.