As part of efforts to crack down on companies selling unapproved stem cell products to treat a variety of diseases and conditions, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday sent an untitled letter to Arizona-based R3 Stem Cell and its more than 50 affiliate centers or clinics. FDA raises concerns with R3 because its website makes unsubstantiated claims about the stem cell products, which FDA says appear to be human cell, tissue, or cellular or tissue-based p...

In a move that may become more common as the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) comfort with real-world data (RWD) increases, FDA on Thursday approved a new indication for Pfizer’s Ibrance (palbociclib) in combination with an aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant to include men with certain types of metastatic breast cancer. The approval is based on RWD from electronic health records and postmarketing reports of Ibrance in male patients sourced from three databases: I...

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb and Center for Biologics Evaluation Research (CBER) Director Peter Marks on Wednesday warned that the agency will step up its enforcement efforts against companies illegally marketing stem cell therapies.   Gottlieb and Marks also said the agency will look into new ways to “delineate an efficient development path” for low-risk stem cell therapies being developed by firms that have filed investigational n...

Swissmedic said Monday that based on the currently available information, the association Swiss Plastic Surgery recommends using smooth implants rather than textured implants where permitted by the clinical situation. France’s National Agency of Medicine and Health Products (ANSM) echoed that recommendation after observing most known breast implant associated-anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) cases in patients with textured breast implants. But the committee doe...

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb and Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) Director Peter Marks on Tuesday detailed plans for the agency to keep pace with an expected influx of applications for cell and gene therapies over the coming years.   "The FDA is witnessing a surge of cell and gene therapy products entering early development, evidenced by a large upswing in the number of investigational new drug (IND) applications,...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday released a warning letter sent late last month to San Diego-based umbilical cord blood product producer Genetech for selling unapproved products. The warning letter comes as FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have received numerous reports of safety issues including those involving microbial contamination and are aware of 12 patients who received Genetech products and subsequently became ill due t...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday sent a letter to health care providers to provide information about reports of pneumothorax events, or collapsed lungs, and deaths associated with feeding tube placement procedures using some enteral access systems (EAS). FDA has cleared three EAS devices for marketing in the US, the agency said, noting that each uses a different technology to track the position of the feeding tube during the insertion procedure...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday warned stem cell product supplier American CryoStem Corporation for marketing an unapproved product after the agency inspected the company's Eatontown, New Jersey site in July. The warning letter comes just months after FDA announced a new framework for regulating regenerative medicines that included a 36-month period of enforcement discretion by the agency, though at the time, an FDA spokesperson told Focus the ...

Drugmakers and industry groups are calling on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to hold off on finalizing a draft guidance until the International Council on Harmonisation (ICH) finalizes its own guidance on the topic of reproductive toxicity testing for oncology drugs. Comments were released last week on the FDA draft guidance from late September. Industry group PhRMA and Merck both called on FDA to ensure consistency between the draft guidance and relevant I...

The topic of cancer drug labels and how they can be updated more quickly, as well as how the labeling system needs to be reformed was front and center at several panels at the Friends of Cancer Research's annual meeting in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. Janet Woodcock, director of the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), noted her agency has been working on the issue of label updates for a number of years, particul...

Welcome to our European Regulatory Roundup, our weekly overview of the top EU regulatory news. Rise of Cell Therapies Prompts Commission to Float Changes to Orphan Drug Rules The European Commission has proposed changes to its orphan drug regulation. Officials want to make changes to the 17-year-old text to account for the rise of cell therapies and other advanced medicinal products, the nature of which are a poor fit for aspects of the existing regulation. If t...

Welcome to our Asia Regulatory Roundup, our weekly overview of the top regulatory news in Asia. TGA to Tighten Regulation of Autologous Cell Products, Ban Advertisements The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is planning to tighten oversight of autologous cell and tissue products. TGA’s proposed changes will bring some therapies under the biologicals regulatory framework, ban direct-to-consumer advertising and generally move Australia more in line with the ...