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COVID-19 Vaccines: Advisory Committee Picks Apart US FDA Guidance On Efficacy Endpoints

 
• By Sue Sutter

FDA's recommendation that COVID-19 vaccine sponsors conduct two months of median follow-up to support an emergency use authorization may not be long enough, some experts say in what can be viewed as validation for agency's position in battle with White House.

VRBPAC photo illustration - general COVID meeting - 22 October 2020
FDA's first advisory committee meeting on COVID-19 vaccines focused on general issues. • Source: YouTube Screenshot

The US Food and Drug Administration's first advisory committee meeting on COVID-19 vaccines revealed that external experts are somewhat dissatisfied with various aspects of the agency’s development advice to vaccine sponsors. However, whether their objections will lead to any substantive change in the agency's path going forward seems unlikely.

At the 22 October meeting of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, panel members found plenty to dislike...

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Prasad 2.0 Brings New Instability Concerns, Questions About Changed Regulatory Philosophy

 
• By Sarah Karlin-Smith

Many agency stakeholders believe Vinay Prasad may be forced to change his regulatory approach at least somewhat after receiving a second chance to lead the US FDA's biologics center.

HHS mRNA Vaccine Funding Cut Impact Limited (And One Contract Isn’t Even mRNA)

 
• By Alaric DeArment

HHS' culling of mRNA vaccine projects under BARDA will heavily impact pandemic preparedness. Tiba Biotech was even “caught off guard” by its inclusion, because its project was neither a vaccine nor mRNA-based.

Vaccine Developers To Benefit From CEPI’s ‘World First’ Adjuvant ‘Matchmaking’ Service

 
• By Eliza Slawther

Selected vaccine developers will soon be able to use a new adjuvant “matchmaking” initiative that could help create more “effective, potent” vaccines against epidemic and pandemic threats, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations has said.

Double Duty At US FDA: Tidmarsh Will Temporarily Lead Both CDER And CBER

 
• By Sarah Karlin-Smith

Just a week and a half into his tenure at the agency, the new CDER Director George Tidmarsh was also tapped to serve as acting head of CBER. Prasad’s swift ouster at CBER may point to a softening in cell and gene therapy regulation but could also portend even more scrutiny on vaccines.

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US Pricing Reform: New Products Offer ‘On Ramp’ To Implementation, Lilly’s Ricks Says

 
• By Cathy Kelly

Eli Lilly's CEO argued that pricing reforms aimed at existing drugs would be “hard to sustain or justify,” while other companies suggested a growing interest in direct-to-consumer sales programs.

New US FDA CDER Director Pledges No Politics In Approvals, Adds Higher Ups Can Overturn

 
• By Sarah Karlin-Smith

New CDER Director George Tidmarsh promised to keep politics out of drug approvals, but suggested during a meeting with staff that he could not insulate the drug center from political pressures coming from those above him.

EU Must Up Competitiveness To Counter US Tariffs And Pricing Woes For SMEs

 
• By Francesca Bruce

Companies in Europe cannot delay business decision making much longer to wait for more certainty on major US policy shifts on tariffs and pricing.