Drug Safety

EU Consultation Deadline Looms For Pharmacovigilance Rules Update

 

Stakeholders have until 15 January to respond to a European Commission proposal that aims to harmonize pharmacovigilance activities by marketing authorization holders, national competent authorities and the European Medicines Agency.

Australia Unveils Final Product Recall Reforms Ahead Of March Implementation

 

The Therapeutic Goods Administration is advising companies to get up to speed with its new recall procedure, which is designed to improve the timeliness of recalls, alerts and corrections, and reduce regulatory burden for sponsors.

Ozempic & NAION: EU Safety Panel Continues Probe Into Link With Eye Condition

 

The European Medicines Agency says it will take appropriate measures to update the Ozempic’s package leaflet if new evidence arises.

Could Another US FDA Safety Alert Foreshadow Withdrawal Of Intercept’s Ocaliva?

 
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The FDA's view that current monitoring recommendations may not be sufficient to mitigate harm increases the likelihood it could seek withdrawal.


US FDA Rethinking Requirements For Pediatric RSV Vax Studies After Indication-Wide Holds

 

The FDA wants to update 2017 requirements for the data needed before initiating RSV vaccine trials in infants and toddlers after vaccine-associated enhanced respiratory disease triggered an indication-wide research hold.

Beyond The REMS: Clozapine Adcomm Shows Why In-Program Assessments Are Not Always Enough

 
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The FDA and sponsors should have surveyed providers and patients who do not prescribe or use the antipsychotic clozapine to find whether the REMS restrictions were hindering access and causing harm, advisory committee members and patient advocates said.

Gene Therapy And Secondary Malignancies: Integration Site Analysis Can Only Be Part Of The Answer

 

The US FDA seeks to better understand and predict insertional mutagenesis in gene therapies like bluebird bio's Skysona, which use integrating viral vectors, but a workshop on integration site analysis highlighted the approach's complexity and limitations.

Clozapine REMS A Barrier To Treatment And Unnecessary For Safe Use, US FDA Adcomms Say

 
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The atypical antipsychotic’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy should be retired because the requirements for prescriber education and documentation on absolute neutrophil count monitoring are hindering access, panelists said.


AstraZeneca’s Andexxa Could Be Headed For Withdrawal After US FDA’s Negative Advisory Committee Preview

 

The confirmatory trial for the anticoagulant reversal agent raised safety and efficacy concerns from the agency.

Is A Clozapine REMS Still Needed? Two US FDA Adcomms Will Weigh Neutropenia Risk Mitigation

 
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The antipsychotic’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy has never been fully implemented or enforced due to operational and technical challenges. The FDA now is re-evaluating the need for the program given changes in the health care landscape and medical training since the drug’s 1989 approval.

Leqembi Secures EMA Thumbs Up For Narrower Indication

 

After an initial rejection, the European Medicines Agency now says that Eisai/Biogen’s Alzheimer’s disease drug should be approved, albeit for a restricted population and with a recommendation for ongoing safety scans.

Pakistan Introduces Mandatory E-Reporting For Adverse Drug Reactions

 

Companies submitting individual case safety reports in Pakistan will soon have to use a new e-Reporting system that is expected to simplify and streamline the submissions process.


EU Launches Safety Review Of Finasteride And Dutasteride Over Suicidal Thoughts And Behavior

 
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France’s regulatory agency, which triggered the review, says it believes that the addition of suicidal ideation to the product information for finasteride and reports of cases of completed suicide “seriously alter” the product’s benefit-risk profile. 

EMA Clarifies Quality And Equivalence Testing Expectations For Cutaneous Products

 

New guidance from the European Medicines Agency explains how in vitro and in vivo models may be used instead of clinical data for the purpose of establishing therapeutic equivalence in a stepwise approach.

Growth Spurt: Pediatric Labeling Is On The Rise, Taxing US FDA Safety Monitoring

 

The US FDA Pediatric Advisory Committee uses web-posted reviews of “low safety risk” products to keep up with postmarketing monitoring requirements amid rising interest in pediatric development.

CAR-T Therapies: Stakeholders Urge Rethinking Of Postmarketing Requirements And REMS

 
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Long-term follow-up requirements have taken a conservative approach, but could be ripe for re-examination and global harmonization, Kite Pharma executive director says, while former FDA gene/cell therapy office head Wilson Bryan wants the classwide REMS eliminated.


US FDA Acknowledges Patient Frustration With CAR-T Boxed Warning

 

An FDA question to a patient concerned about the negative impacts of the CAR-T boxed label warning during a recent listening session indicates the agency may be thinking about improving its dissemination of the information. 

Pfizer Withdraws Oxbryta, But Overall Market Impact May Be Limited

 

The withdrawal amid concerns about the risk-benefit ratio reduces treatment options for sickle cell disease, but it is not expected to have much effect on the SCD market, including the gene therapies.

EMA Explains How To Make Risk Minimization Measures Robust & Effective

 
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Pharmacovigilance experts speaking at an event organized by the European Medicines Agency discussed the rationale behind revised requirements relating to how drug sponsors must develop and evaluate risk minimization measures and thereby improve the safety of their medicines.

French Plan To Require Pregnancy Risk Pictogram On All Medicines

 
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New requirements proposed by the French regulator are intended to increase the impact and effectiveness of the pictogram showing the risks of taking medicines in pregnancy.