Today was the FDA vaccine advisory committee meeting to provide feedback to the FDA regarding the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine. I don’t think anyone will be surprised by the outcome, especially since the pre-meeting package written by the FDA was extremely favorable regarding the safety profile and the very high efficacy rates seen in the study. […]
Based on the FDA advanced posting of material regarding the advisory committee meeting tomorrow to consider an EUA for the Pfizer vaccine, it appears that there should be clear sailing. From the materials that I was able to review, there were very few serious adverse reactions, 95% efficacy rate, and low episodes of severe disease […]
I read an Axios report this morning (here) written by Jonathan Swan, indicating that FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn has been summoned to the West Wing by White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to explain “why he hasn’t moved faster to approve the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine“. This type of pressure has no place in science. […]
Two prominent senators recently sent a letter to the Commissioner of the FDA on November 10, 2020, requesting him to provide certain information regarding the current state of conducting international inspections. Many of those within and supportive of the pharmaceutical industry applaud the efforts of these senators in shining a light on some elements associated […]
Well, here we are, at the end of the conference already. Let us look at highlights of the Day 3 activities. Dr. Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services, gave the opening keynote address and, in usual fashion, he thanked the generics and biosimilar industries for making high-quality generic drugs and biosimilars available to […]
The history of the issue of the ”intended use” regulations goes back to 2015, as explained in this 39-page pre-publication version of the Federal Register Notice (here), and it is quite an interesting read. The main issue surrounds the notion that, if a firm knows its product is being used for a use not in […]
The news is rife with stories about counterfeit drugs, illegal operating on-line pharmacies, on-line pharmacies dispensing sub- or super-potent medicines, some act as virtual opioid pill mills, but the FDA has launched a campaign to help consumers navigate the online pharmacy morass. Released this morning the FDA’s web page (here) asks in its opening line […]
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The FDA has backed away and revoked a number of Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) that it had issued in the past, including those for hydroxychloroquine and a multitude of less-than-accurate COVID‑19 tests. By all accounts, there is a degree of trepidation in the scientific community that many of the Agency’s decisions regarding EUAs are being […]
Clearly, the FDA has acted too early on Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) for a few COVID-19 tests and products. The flurry of revocations of EUAs for tests that were deemed not reliable have cause a sputter in the onset of testing ramp up. Another specific example was the FDA’s EUA for hydroxychloroquine, which left many […]
