That quote from “the Dude” from one of the final scenes of the 1998 film The Big Lebowski sums up well where things stand—or should we say “cannot stand, man”—insofar as drug pricing legislation, and, in particular, the Bringing Low-cost Options and Competition while Keeping …
On April 29, 2019, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) convened a public meeting entitled “Patient Perspectives on the Impact of Rare Diseases: Bridging the Commonalities.” This meeting was attended by people with rare diseases, their caregivers and family members, patient advocates, industry representatives and …
On May 24, 2019, FDA approved Avexis’s BLA for its gene therapy, Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi), for treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). This represents the first approval of a systemically-administered somatic gene replacement therapy. (The first gene therapy approved by FDA was Luxturna in Dec. …
In a document as interesting for the “why” as the “what,” the Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel (“OLC”) recently issued a memorandum legal opinion concerning “Whether the Food and Drug Administration Has Jurisdiction over Articles Intended for Use in Lawful Executions.” The issuance of …
On May 6, 2019, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a Memorandum and Opinion concerning the remedy available to Plaintiffs following the same court’s earlier decision (see our previous post regarding the court’s earlier decision here) invalidating a final rule …
FDA recently finalized its guidance document intended to assist protein biosimilar manufacturers in demonstrating interchangeability, Considerations in Demonstrating Interchangeability With a Reference Product. Interchangeability, as of now, is nothing more than a pipe dream; no biosimilar has been declared interchangeable and therefore fully substitutable for …
On May 8, 2019, the FDA published a new draft guidance for industry titled “Submitting Documents Using Real-World Data and Real-World Evidence to FDA for Drugs and Biologics.” This draft guidance was produced as a joint effort from CDER and CBER and is intended to provide …
Colorado and Florida have joined Vermont in the list of states seeking to combat high prescription drug prices by establishing programs to import drugs from Canada. On April 29, 2019, the Florida legislature passed CS/HB 19, which directs the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration …
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized its proposed rule requiring pharmaceutical manufacturers to disclose the Wholesale Acquisition Cost (WAC) in Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) television advertisements for certain prescription drugs and biological products (the Final Rule). The Final Rule will appear in the …
Responding to objections from New Jersey healthcare practitioners, hospitality and restaurant businesses, and the pharmaceutical industry, the New Jersey Attorney General published an amendment to the state’s rules restricting the acceptance of remuneration by prescribers from pharmaceutical manufacturers. The final amendment, which appeared in the …
As FDA continues to approve biosimilar drug products, and as sponsors participate – or rather choose not to participate – in the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (“BPCIA”) version of the patent dance, more questions arise about the remedies reference product sponsors have when …
As you may have noticed, FDA recently unveiled a new website. As part of this redesign, FDA “enhanced” the Product-Specific Guidances (“PSG”) for Generic Drug Development web page. The “enhanced” version of the website includes new database and search function features, export features, and paginated …
FDA’s interpretation and application of the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (“BPCA”), which provides for a 6-month add-on period of pediatric exclusivity has piqued our interest more than once over the years, leading to several posts (see, e.g., here, here, and here). We now have …
In a press release issued on April 3rd, FDA reiterated its warning to stem cell clinics (and implicitly to other HCT/P facilities that are benefiting from enforcement discretion), asserting that the agency has stepped up oversight over such facilities, and will be ramping up even …
As we discussed last summer, FDA has recognized that negotiations surrounding the development of a Single, Shared System REMS may fail, and, to that end, issued a guidance detailing the Agency’s waivers process. Now, the market has borne the fruits of that labor in the …
