USFDA

Bristol Myers Squibb announced that Opdivo (nivolumab) 3 mg/kg plus Yervoy (ipilimumab) 1 mg/kg (injections for intravenous use) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the first-line treatment of adult patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors express PD-L1 (≥1%) as determined by an FDA-approved test, with no EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted priority review of Sanofi’s Biologics License Application (BLA) for sutimlimab for the treatment of hemolysis in adult patients with cold agglutinin disease (CAD). Sutimlimab, an investigational monoclonal antibody, targets the underlying cause of hemolysis in CAD by selectively inhibiting complement C1s.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the first diagnostic test with the option of using home-collected saliva samples for COVID-19 testing. Specifically, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) to Rutgers Clinical Genomics Laboratory for their COVID-19 laboratory developed test (LDT), which had been previously added to the high complexity molecular-based LDT “umbrella” EUA, to permit testing of samples self-collected by patients at home using the Spectrum Solutions LLC SDNA-1000 Saliva Collection Device. This announcement builds on last month’s EUA for the first diagnostic test with a home-collection option, which uses a sample collected from the patient’s nose with a nasal swab and saline.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Retevmo (selpercatinib) capsules to treat three types of tumors – non-small cell lung cancer, medullary thyroid cancer and other types of thyroid cancers – in patients whose tumors have an alteration (mutation or fusion) in a specific gene (RET or “rearranged during transfection”). Retevmo is the first therapy approved specifically for cancer patients with the RET gene alterations.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration is providing an update on the agency’s efforts to combat the extremely concerning actions by companies and individuals that are exploiting or taking advantage of widespread fear among consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to scammers on the internet selling unproven medical products, the FDA has taken – and continues to take – a number of steps to find and stop those selling unapproved products that fraudulently claim to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose or cure COVID-19.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Tabrecta (capmatinib) for the treatment of adult patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that has spread to other parts of the body. Tabrecta is the first FDA-approved therapy to treat NSCLC with specific mutations (those that lead to mesenchymal-epithelial transition or MET exon 14 skipping).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration  granted marketing authorization for a new device indicated to provide continuous hemodialysis or hemofiltration therapy to critically ill pediatric patients weighing between 2.5 and 10 kilograms (or 5.5 to 22 pounds). Continuous hemodialysis or hemofiltration therapy – known as continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) – involves using a dialysis machine and a special filter, or dialyzer, to continuously clean a patient’s blood for an extended period of time, without stopping, instead of the more traditional three times a week therapy session. CRRT is typically performed in intensive care unit (ICU) settings. The CARPEDIEM System is the first CRRT device intended for a lower weight-specific pediatric patient population (2.5 and 10 kilograms; or 5.5 to 22 pounds) who have a sudden or temporary loss of kidney function (acute kidney injury) or have too much water in their bodies because their kidneys are not functioning properly (fluid overload).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration included, under the ventilator emergency use authorization (EUA), a ventilator developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which is tailored to treat patients with COVID-19. The ventilator was added to the list of authorized ventilators, ventilator tubing connectors and ventilator accessories under the ventilator EUA that was issued in response to concerns relating to insufficient supply and availability of FDA-cleared ventilators for use in health care settings to treat patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Farxiga (dapagliflozin) oral tablets for adults with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death and hospitalization for heart failure. Heart failure occurs when the heart does not pump enough blood to support the body’s needs, and this type of heart failure happens when the heart’s main pumping chamber, the left ventricle, is weakened. With the approval, Farxiga is the first in this particular drug class, sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, to be approved to treat adults with New York Heart Association’s functional class II-IV heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.