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Xarelto Approval For AF Stroke Risk Reduction Tested FDA’s Comparative Efficacy Powers, But Conservative View Prevailed

 
• By Bridget Silverman

J&J/Bayer’s Xarelto tested the limits of FDA’s policy on comparative efficacy, thanks to suboptimal use of the active comparator, warfarin, and the introduction of a new competitor, Pradaxa. In the medical reviewers’ view, new therapies should be as effective as existing therapies used skillfully, but division leadership would withhold approval only if the new drug were clearly inferior to approved agents.

The primary reviewers of Johnson & Johnson/Bayer AGXarelto (rivaroxaban) for stroke risk reduction in atrial fibrillation patients argued that the still-recent approval of Boehringer Ingelheim Corp.’s Pradaxa (dabigatran) gave FDA grounds to demand comparative efficacy data to justify rivaroxaban’s approval. But the leadership of FDA’s Division of Cardiovascular and Renal Products cleared Xarelto on the basis of existing data, holding to a more limited view of what triggers the agency’s ability to require that comparative effectiveness be shown to alternative therapy.

Boehringer’s Pradaxa was cleared in October 2010 – months before the Xarelto submission for reducing the risk of stroke and...

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Ocaliva: Still No Clarity On Why EU Court Opposed Revocation Of Approval

 
• By Neena Brizmohun

Advanz Pharma would have had to show that the European Commission’s decision to revoke Ocaliva’s conditional marketing approval risked causing serious and irreparable harm, according to lawyers from Van Bael & Bellis.

Final Chance To Have Your Say: Take Our Reader Survey This Week

 
• By Nielsen Hobbs

This is your final call to participate in the survey to better understand our subscribers’ content and delivery needs. The deadline is 20 September.

Shape Our Content: Take The Reader Survey

 
• By Nielsen Hobbs

We are conducting a survey to better understand our subscribers’ content and delivery needs. If there are any changes you’d like to see in coverage topics, article format, or the method in which you access the Pink Sheet – or if you love it how it is – now is the time to have your voice heard.

Brazil Pilots Digital Drug Pack Inserts

 
• By Francesca Bruce

A new pilot aims to take Brazil closer to ‘digital transformation.’

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Semaglutide: EMA Safety Probe Confirms Rare Eye Disorder Risk

 
• By Neena Brizmohun

The EU product information for Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide medicines is to be updated to include non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy as a side effect with a frequency of “very rare.”

Infographic: Leqembi – A Geographical Comparison

 
• By Anabel Costa-Ferreira

The Pink Sheet explores how regulatory approvals for Leqembi differ around the world, and looks at what is coming next.

EU Pharma Reform: Council Proposal A ‘Step In The Right Direction’ But ‘More Work To Be Done’

 
• By Eliza Slawther

Experts from EUCOPE explain why the Council of the EU’s position on the proposed overhaul of the general pharmaceutical legislation could offer more predictability for companies than the commission’s initial offering.