Keeping Track: Shionogi, Fresenius Kabi Join July Approval Parade; Busy August Expected

Nonvoting industry representative’s presence at Pediatric Advisory Committee meeting was required by statute, the agency said, a de facto acknowledgement that an April directive precluding industry reps from sitting on advisory committees has had little practical effect.

Seven weeks before its action date and a month after an advisory committee was hastily cancelled, Capricor gets a CRL for its cell therapy deramiocel in DMD-related cardiomyopathy citing efficacy and manufacturing concerns. It has a Phase III study nearing readout, though.

While the first six months of the year saw eight new drugs targeting a range of diseases enter the European Medicines Agency’s priority medicines scheme, and three PRIME-designated treatments go on to win EU marketing approval, use of the accelerated assessment mechanism appears to be limited.

The transparency initiative collects CRLs already made public in approval packages on its drugs@fda site to post on the openFDA public portal.