Quality Systems

EMA has started evaluating RoActemra (tocilizumab), an anti-inflammatory medicine, as a potential treatment for hospitalized adult patients with severe COVID-19.

The user fees set for fiscal year 2022 are noteworthy, as their announcement comes as FDA and industry are finalizing agreements for new five-year user fee programs.

FDA granted orphan drug designation to Paratek Pharmaceuticals for NUZYRA (omadacycline), an investigational antibiotic.

UK's ABPI responds to the latest revisions being made to NICE methods for assessment of drugs and devices.

FDA approves Merck’s Welireg for the treatment of adult patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease who require therapy for tumor growth.

WHO’s solidarity plus trial will enroll hospitalized patients to test artesunate, imatinib, and infliximab in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

BlackBerry’s QNX real-time operating system may create cybersecurity vulnerabilities, according to FDA.

Lilly’s insulin, lyumjev, receives FDA approval for an expanded label.

Cipla receives final approval from FDA for its abbreviated new drug application for difluprednate ophthalmic emulsion 0.05%.

FDA has granted its first approval for an idiopathic hypersomnia treatment.

FDA has opened a public docket soliciting feedback on the regulation process surrounding PANDAs.

The President calls for granting Medicare authority to negotiate drug prices and penalties for pharma companies that raise prices faster than inflation.

The agency has amended the emergency use authorizations for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines to allow certain immunocompromised people to receive an additional dose of the vaccine.

The EC has approved the drug in the EU for treatment of chronic kidney disease in adults with or without type-2 diabetes.

The MHRA has approved GW Pharmaceuticals’ Epidiolex for the treatment of seizures associated with tuberous sclerosis complex.

The agency is endorsing recommendations for global track-and-trace systems developed by the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities.

The agency’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee recommended updating the product information for Janssen’s COVID-19 vaccine to list immune thrombocytopenia as an adverse reaction.

EMA’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee has requested more data for its evaluation of reports of Guillain-Barré syndrome after vaccination.

KVK Tech is voluntarily recalling two lots of Atovaquone Oral Suspension, USP 750 mg/5mL because of customer complaints of unusual grittiness in the product.

The guidance aids in the development, validation, and use of near infrared-based analytical procedures.

Syntec receives warning letter where FDA finds deviations from CGMP for APIs.

EC has confirmed that the entry into application of the Clinical Trials Regulation and, as such, the go-live date for the Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) will be Jan. 31, 2022.

Bristol Myers Squibb has been granted approval by the European Commission for Opdivo (nivolumab) as an adjuvant treatment

EMA’s CHMP has approved the increased manufacturing capacity and supply of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine active substance in its US manufacturing site.

CMA fines Advanz and investors for more than £100 million (approximately US$139 million) after the company increased the price of thyroid tablet packs from £20 (US$23.74) in 2009 to £248 (approximately US$295) in 2017.

FDA has approved AstraZeneca’s Saphnelo, a type I interferon receptor antibody for treating systemic lupus erythematosus.

FDA has accepted Genetech’s BLA for faricimab, a bispecific antibody in development for treating wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema.

The European Commission has entered into a supply agreement with GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology for up to 220,000 doses of sotrovimab, an investigational mAb for treating COVID-19.

A robust selection of which product(s) and equipment to validate for cleaning is the cornerstone of a successful cleaning validation program. A strategy for selection of products and equipment for cleaning validation is presented.

Data sharing facilitates traceability, transparency, and accuracy while driving efficiencies and boosting quality of active pharmaceutical ingredients.