The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) needs to take a more proactive approach in combatting misinformation and communicating decisions to the public when approving drugs, especially when the decision goes against the recommendations of its advisory committees. Not doing so will continue to undermine the public’s trust in the agency, said a panel of former FDA commissioners and others at the Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI) annual conference on Tuesday.   Califf ad...

The US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) approved 50 new drug therapies in 2021. While the figure is a slight decrease from 2020 , more drugs were designated as first-in-class and used the accelerated approval pathway than in previous years.   The approvals reported by CDER do not include biologics license applications (BLAs) approved by FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER). In 2021, CBER approved...

Welcome to Regulatory Reconnaissance, your daily regulatory news and intelligence briefing.   In Focus: US Pfizer sells $7.8 billion in Covid shots in the second quarter, raises 2021 guidance on vaccine sales ( CNBC ) AstraZeneca castoff draws $123M wager on CXCR2 antagonist as Arena lines up a buyout option ( Endpoints ) Opinion: US FDA Should Take Its Time With COVID Vaccine BLAs ( Pink Sheet ) Biden Is Considering A Vaccine Or Testing Mandate For Federal Workers...

Biogen’s newly approved Alzheimer’s disease drug Aduhelm (aducanumab-avwa) received a labeling update Thursday to clarify that the drug is meant for individuals with mild cognitive impairment or dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease.   Just last month, Aduhelm received accelerated approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a controversial decision that ran counter to the strong opinions of the agency’s Peripheral and Central Nervous System advisory committe...