North America

United States


COVID Vaccines: US FDA Changes Course, Wants New Formulas To Target KP.2 Subvariant ‘If Feasible’

 
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Revised recommendation is based on most recent data on circulating strains in US, where KP.3 is now dominant. Novavax sticks with plans targeting the JN.1 ‘parent strain.’

Diversity Action Plans: What To Submit And When

 
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With the deadline for comments on the US FDA’s draft guidance less than a month away, the Pink Sheet offers an infographic outlining what the agency is expecting in diversity action plans and when that might be implemented.

Stealth’s Elamipretide: Efficacy In Barth Syndrome Not Shown, US FDA Says

 
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Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee will consider whether open-label extension data from a randomized trial that failed its primary endpoint, along with a historical control comparison, are enough to support approval in the ultra-rare disease.

Canada


Canada Cuts Red Tape With Single Ethics Review For Trials

A new research ethics review system for multi-site clinical trials in Canada is expected to help improve study start-up times, avoid unnecessary duplication and boost the country’s competitiveness on a global stage.

England Lags Behind Eight European Countries On Innovative Drug Availability

 

In this third article of a series on new drug reimbursement recommendations by the HTA body NICE, the Pink Sheet finds that fewer innovative medicines are reimbursed in England than in eight other European nations.

Canada Expands Expedited Reimbursement Mechanism To Include All New Medicines

 

The rolling reimbursement reviews that Canada’s Drug Agency introduced as a pilot scheme to speed up patient access to COVID-19 products can now be used for any drug application. The move to open up the mechanism follows prompts by industry.

Enhertu Snub From England’s NICE Not ‘In Line’ With Other Countries

 

England’s NICE has “misclassified” HER2-low metastatic breast cancer as a medium severity disease, say AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo, the co-developers of Enhertu. NICE said it would consider a rapid re-appraisal if the companies offered a “fair price” for the drug.