ZURICH (Reuters)—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted Novartis unit Sandoz’s regulatory submission for approval of a biosimilar copy of Amgen’s blockbuster anti-TNF drug Enbrel, the Swiss drugmaker said on Friday. Enbrel, or etanercept as the drug is known generically, is a big prize since it was the world’s fifth-biggest selling medicine in 2014…
Rituximab for RA Is Safe Long Term, Plus Oxycodone Update
Rituximab was evaluated and found safe as a long-term RA therapy. Also, FDA Advisory Committees voted on oxycodone therapies at a joint meeting.
FDA Issues Warning for Joint Pain from Diabetes Drugs
Severe and disabling joint pain has been connected to the use of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors and combination therapies for diabetes, prompting a new FDA warning…
FDA’s ‘Breakthrough Drug’ Terminology Confuses the Public
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—What the Food and Drug Administration calls a ‘breakthrough’ drug is often not the same as what a layperson would call a breakthrough, a new study shows. The FDA uses the term more often, and for smaller advances, than people use it colloquially, and this may lead patients to have unwarranted confidence…
New Labeling for Infused Golimumab; Phase 3 Trial for Romosozumab Promising
The FDA has approved new labeling for infused golimumab to include measures of mental and physical health. Plus romosozumab meets primary endpoints in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis during a Phase 3 trial…
U.S. Bans Another Indian Drug Plant over Production Quality
MUMBAI (Reuters)—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned imports from another India-based drug manufacturing plant over quality control concerns, making it the 10th site in the country this year to face such action. The FDA’s import alert on Mumbai-based Polydrug Laboratories Pvt Ltd’s Ambernath manufacturing plant comes two months after Canada banned the…
Pacira Sues FDA over Pain Drug Marketing Restrictions
NEW YORK (Reuters)—Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Tuesday filed a lawsuit seeking a court order allowing it to promote its post-surgery pain drug, Exparel (bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension), for a wide range of surgeries, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration opposes. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, cites another New York judge’s recent…
Lupus Nephritis Therapies Compared, Plus Naming Guidance for Biosimilars
Comparing tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil and cyclophosphamide, tacrolimus was the most efficacious. Also, biosimilars may soon be easier to differentiate…
FDA Proposes Adding Suffixes to Distinguish Biosimilar Drug Names
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed on Thursday identifying cheaper versions of biologic drugs with a suffix to distinguish them from their more expensive, branded counterparts. The FDA said its draft guidance is designed to prevent the inadvertent substitution of non-interchangeable products and to make it easier to monitor and track usage once…
U.S. NIH Drug Facility Suspended after Contamination Found
(Reuters)—The National Institutes of Health said on Thursday it had suspended operations of a facility that makes products used for clinical research after the discovery of fungal contamination in two vials of albumin. Vials made from the same batch of albumin had been administered to six patients, though it is not known if those were…