Industry News

Exelixis, Inc. announced that it has completed the submission of its rolling New Drug Application (NDA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for cabozantinib as a treatment for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who have received one prior therapy. Exelixis has requested Priority Review as part of the NDA filing.

Drug major Lupin has received final approval from the US health regulator to market Potassium Chloride extended release capsules, used to treat potassium deficiency in the body, in the American market.

Seattle Genetics Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb announced that the companies have initiated a phase 1/2 clinical trial of ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin) in combination with Opdivo (nivolumab) for patients with CD30-expressing relapsed or refractory B-cell and T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL), including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). This is the second of two trials being conducted under a previously announced clinical trial collaboration agreement between Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Seattle Genetics. ADCETRIS is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) directed to CD30, a marker expressed on Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and several types of NHL, which combines the targeting ability of a monoclonal antibody with a highly potent cell-killing agent. Recent preclinical data suggest that ADCETRIS causes immunogenic cell death of tumor cells, providing rationale for combination with Opdivo, a human antibody that targets and inhibits the programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1), resulting in T-cell activation. Opdivo is part of a new class of cancer immunotherapy treatments known as checkpoint inhibitors, which are designed to harness the body’s own immune system in fighting cancer by targeting distinct regulatory components of the immune system.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited  and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd made the below follow-up announcement regarding the overview of their new business venture in Japan, which was initially disclosed on November 30, 2015 in the press release titled, "Teva and Takeda establish unique partnership to meet the wide-ranging needs of patients and growing importance of generic medicines use in Japan".

LabStyle Innovations Corp., developer of the Dario Diabetes Management Solution, announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted 510(k) clearance for the Dario Blood Glucose Monitoring System, including its components, the Dario Blood Glucose Meter, Dario Blood Glucose Test Strips, Dario Glucose Control Solutions and the Dario app on the Apple iOS 6.1 platform and higher.

Eagle Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Docetaxel injection, non-alcohol formula for the treatment of breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, prostate cancer, gastric adenocarcinoma, and head and neck cancer. Eagle entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Teikoku Pharma USA Inc. in October 2015 to market, sell and distribute Docetaxel injection in the US.

AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapies for the intended treatment of acute pain, reported that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) at the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has confirmed that a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for ARX-04 may be submitted in the European Union (EU) under the Agency's centralized procedure. ARX-04 (sufentanil sublingual tablet, 30 mcg) is being developed for the treatment of moderate-to-severe acute pain in adult patients administered by a healthcare professional in a medically supervised setting.

Aurobindo Pharma Limited is pleased to announce that the company has received final approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) to manufacture and market Famotidine Tablets USP, 20 mg and 40 mg.

Celgene Corporation announced the settlement of litigation with Natco Pharma Ltd. of India, Natco's U.S. partner, Arrow International Limited, and Arrow's parent company, Watson Laboratories, Inc. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Allergan plc) relating to patents for REVLIMID® (lenalidomide).

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, announced that the application for Emergency Use Assessment and Listing (EUAL) for the company’s investigational Ebola Zaire vaccine, V920 (rVSV?G-ZEBOV-GP, live attenuated), has been accepted for review by the World Health Organization (WHO).