USFDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in partnership with international regulatory and law enforcement agencies, acted this week to target 465 websites that illegally sell potentially dangerous, unapproved versions of opioid, oncology and antiviral prescription drugs to U.S. consumers.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the Valiant Navion(TM) thoracic stent graft system for the minimally invasive repair of all lesions of the descending thoracic aorta, including thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA), blunt thoracic aortic injuries (BTAI), penetrating atherosclerotic ulcers (PAU), intramural hematomas (IMH), and aortic type B dissections (TBAD).

With the number of overdose deaths from prescription and illicit opioids doubling from 21,089 in 2010 to 42,249 in 2016, it’s critical that we continue to tackle this human tragedy from all fronts – including, and importantly, looking at new ways to increase the availability of naloxone.

Fruits and vegetables are a key part of a healthy diet. But because of the way produce is grown, handled and consumed – often raw – it can become contaminated with foodborne pathogens that may make consumers sick. Farmers understand the importance of food safety when they grow their crops. So did Congress when it passed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). This law, for the first time, charged the FDA with establishing science-based standards for the safe production and harvesting of produce.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted its supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Priority Review for IMBRUVICA®(ibrutinib) in combination with obinutuzumab (GAZYVA®) in previously untreated adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL). If the sNDA is approved, the use of IMBRUVICA with obinutuzumab could become the first chemotherapy-free, anti-CD20 combination approved by the FDA for the first-line treatment of CLL/SLL. IMBRUVICA is currently FDA-approved to treat adults with CLL/SLL as a single-agent for all lines of therapy and in combination with bendamustine and rituximab (BR).

As part of the Administration’s ongoing efforts to strengthen cybersecurity in health care, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a memorandum of agreement to implement a new framework for greater coordination and cooperation between the two agencies for addressing cybersecurity in medical devices.

The FDA continues to advance new policies, modernize programs and advance opportunities for developing more targeted therapies. Using new technology platforms such as cell and gene therapies and small molecule drugs that target the genomic basis of disease, there are more opportunities to intervene in the underlying mechanisms that cause a disease, and potentially arrest and even reverse its progress.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved ID CORE XT, a molecular-based assay used in blood transfusion medicine to help determine blood compatibility. The assay can be used to determine blood donor and patient non-ABO red blood cell (RBC) types. ID CORE XT is the second molecular assay approved for use in transfusion medicine, and the first to report genotypes as final results.

The FDA is amending its food additive regulations in response to two food additive petitions, to no longer allow for the use of a total of 7 synthetic flavoring substances and flavor enhancers (adjuvants).

As part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s efforts to promote drug competition and patient access, there are  advanced many policies aimed at making it more efficient to bring generic competition to the market. These are drugs that, by nature of their formulation or delivery systems for example, are harder to “genericize” under our traditional approaches. As a result, these drugs often face less competition.