A new position paper from Vaccines Europe calls for an EU-wide committee and effort to implement clinical health technology assessment (HTA) methodologies that are specific to vaccines.   The vaccine-specific initiative would be part of a broader effort by the European Commission (EC) to institute common HTA methodologies and tools throughout the EU. Vaccines Europe, together with the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations’ (EFPIA), is seekin...

Developers can improve their chances of success in getting pediatric drugs to market by consulting early with regulators in the US and the EU, understanding regulatory precedence and current context, and having a clearly defined clinical study design, experts advised at RAPS Convergence 2021.   One of the common hurdles in developing a pediatric drug product is navigating the different regulatory requirements in the US and Europe, said Linda McBride, a regulatory consu...

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has identified a need for more consistency in how real-world evidence (RWE) is submitted, Xavier Kurz told attendees at RAPS Convergence 2021.   Kurz, the head of surveillance and epidemiology at EMA, said the agency reached the conclusion after analyzing the use of RWE in applications for marketing authorization and extension of indication in 2018 and 2019. The study, preliminary findings from which were shared at RAPS Convergence 2...

When developing a regulatory submission for a gene or cellular therapy, it’s essential to keep the basics in mind, such as how to demonstrate the product’s identity, purity, and potency, Haroon Hashmi, PhD, told attendees at RAPS Convergence 2021.   “Even when we think about these complex technologies -- new emerging technologies -- certain regulatory principles always stay in place,” said Hashmi, senior vice president at Ziopharm Oncology, which has developed the Slee...

During the opening plenary session for RAPS Convergence 2021, leading regulators from the US and EU moved beyond the now-obligatory discussion of lessons learned from the pandemic to a substantive review of how the agencies are really faring a year and a half into the public health emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic.   Speaking to an audience of regulatory experts in attendance at the virtual conference, Janet Woodcock, acting commissioner of the US Food and Drug Admin...

Officials at the Heads of Medicines Agencies – European Medicines Agency (HMA-EMA) are moving forward with an effort to create a usable catalogue of metadata to aid the scientific community in identifying real-world evidence that can inform regulatory decisions.   Metadata is defined generally as “a set of data that describes and gives information about other data” and can be further subcategorized by generation, location, ownership, and governance of the data; process...

During a recent joint meeting of the European Union (EU) Directors for Pharmaceutical Policy and the Pharmaceutical Committee, members debated potential ways to combat antibiotic resistance and improve access to oncology medicines through the repurposing of older or generic medications.   The meeting, held via video conference on 08-09 July 2021, was co-organized and co-chaired by the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU and the European Commission, with atten...

Welcome to Regulatory Reconnaissance, your daily regulatory news and intelligence briefing.   In Focus: US When Will the Delta Surge End? ( NYT ) Why can’t America fix its Covid-19 testing problems? ( VOX ) Vaccination Rates Rose In August As COVID Cases Surged Due To The Delta Variant ( NPR ) First vaccination doses up 17 percent since Pfizer approval: analysis ( The Hill ) Companies eye financial penalties for unvaccinated workers ( The Hill ) America has waste...

  Welcome to Regulatory Reconnaissance, your daily regulatory news and intelligence briefing.   In Focus: US Percentage of Americans who say they won't get vaccinated drops to record low in new poll ( The Hill ) US demand for COVID-19 antibody treatments rising fast ( PMLive ) CDC Staff Floats 'Risk-Based Approach' to Potential Booster Doses ( MPT ) CDC panel unanimously endorses full approval of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine for people 16 and older ( CNBC ) Nearly 1 m...

  Welcome to Regulatory Reconnaissance, your daily regulatory news and intelligence briefing.   In Focus: US COVID-19 Deaths And Hospitalizations Continue To Rise In The U.S. ( NPR ) HHS Lifts Pause on Lilly's Monoclonal Antibody Combo, Sort Of ( MPT ) U.S. CDC advisers vote in favor of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine ( Reuters ) Baxter in late-stage talks to buy Hillrom for about $10B: WSJ ( MedTech Dive ) Reimbursement begins slowly for Biogen’s expensive Alzheimer’s ...

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the EU’s Heads of Medicines Agencies (HMA) have issued an ambitious workplan for a joint steering group to tackle issues related to big data in healthcare and medicines development.   The steering group’s 2021-2023 work plan, adopted in June and published Friday, “aims to increase the utility of big data in regulation, from data quality through study methods to assessment and decision-making,” according to EMA’s big data webpage...

Welcome to Regulatory Reconnaissance, your daily regulatory news and intelligence briefing.   In Focus: US FDA warns of pacemaker-iPhone interference ( Healthcare IT News ) Opinion: Expanding the domestic public health supply chain is a matter of national security ( STAT ) BD gets emergency FDA nod for smartphone-enabled COVID-19 antigen test ( MedTech Dive ) Ivermectin Scripts, Poison Center Calls Boom During Delta Surge ( MPT ) U.S. COVID-19 tests again in short...