Drug Safety

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

 
• By 

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

 
• By 

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 with a recommendation for initial generic screening and 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

 
• By 

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

 
• By 

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

 
• By 

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

 
• By 

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.

EU Acknowledges Demand For Psychedelic Drug Development Progress: One Million Signatures Now Needed

 

The European Commission has registered a European citizens' initiative that explains how the EU can foster equitable, timely, affordable, safe and legal access to innovative psychedelic-assisted treatments. Work towards securing the one million signatures needed for the next step is starting soon.

EMA Probe Prompts New Safety Measures For Decades-Old Drug Metamizole

 

The European Medicines Agency’s safety committee has concluded that the benefits of medicines containing metamizole continue to outweigh the risks but that new measures are needed to minimize the serious outcomes of agranulocytosis.

Landmark Guidance For Curbing Antibiotic Pollution Considers Impact On Pricing & Supply

 

The World Health Organization says its new 98-page guidance dealing with wastewater and solid waste management for antibiotic manufacturing is a first of its kind and addresses an important but neglected issue.


EU-US-Japanese-Indian Pharmacopeia Group Says ‘New Members Wanted’

 

The deadline is nearing for pharmacopoeias to express their interest in joining the decades-old discussion group that works to harmonize excipient monographs and general chapters and reduce the burden on manufacturers to perform analytical procedures in different ways depending on the jurisdiction.

UK Regulator Explains Changes To Pharmacovigilance Rules From 2025

 

While pharmacovigilance requirements for medicines in the UK will remain “broadly in line” with current rules from 1 January 2025, companies should be aware of changes for some products after this date, the UK’s MHRA says.

New Zealand Addresses Need For Guidance On FIH Studies & Trial Safety Monitoring

 

Medsafe is seeking feedback on proposals to update its clinical trials guidelines, and on two new guidance documents, one of which is dedicated to the “specific considerations” relating to the review and approval of first-in-human studies.

India To Weed Out 156 Irrational FDCs; Legal Challenge Underway

 

India prohibits the manufacture and sale of over 150 fixed-dose combinations (FDCs) that lack therapeutic justification and pose potential health risks, though all eyes are on how effectively the regulatory apparatus enforces the ban, not the first in the area, amid legal action. One firm has secured an ad interim ruling for its combination drug.