Two FDA officials are quarreling in public about their different views about the safety of angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs), according to a story by Thomas Burton in Friday’s Wall Street Journal. One official, Thomas Marciniak, contends that ARBs may increase the risk of cancer. Marciniak has been a vocal critic of FDA’s efforts to assess drug safety. In…
Independent Re-Adjudication Of RECORD Confirms Safety Of Rosiglitazone
May 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment
An independent re-adjudication of the RECORD trial has confirmed the original findings of the trial, that rosiglitazone d0es not increase cardiovascular risk. But critics of the trial and the drug are unlikely to be appeased by the new result. The re-adjudication of RECORD will be the subject of an extraordinary two-day FDA advisory committee meeting next…
Rivaroxaban Gains Approval In Europe For ACS Indication
May 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Rivaroxaban (Xarelto, Bayer) has been approved in Europe for the prevention of atherothrombotic events (cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction or stroke) following an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The drug was approved at a dose of 2.5 mg twice-daily and should be used in combination with standard antiplatelet therapy. Rivaroxaban is now the only oral anticoagulant to receive an…
Spinning RECORD: Battle Over Rosiglitazone Heats Up Two Weeks Before Crucial FDA Meeting
May 24, 2013 by 1 Comment
Battle lines are being drawn two weeks before a highly unusual two-day FDA advisory committee meeting to discuss the contentious diabetes drug rosiglitazone (Avandia, GlaxoSmithKline). This will be the second time an FDA panel has wrestled with the fate of the drug and expectations have been that the discussion will once again be heated. But at…
European Medicines Agency Starts Review of Combined Use Of Drugs That Block The Renin-Angiotensin System
May 20, 2013 by 1 Comment
The European Medicines Agency said last week that it was initiating a review of the combined use of agents that block the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). The three classes of RAS-blocking drugs (ACE inhibitors, ARBs, and direct renin inhibitors) are used to treat hypertension and congestive heart failure. The EMA said that the review was being performed to…
Encouraging 4 Year Results For Watchman Device In AF Patients
May 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Encouraging long-term results from the PROTECT AF trial comparing the Watchman left atrial appendage closure device to warfarin in atrial fibrillation patients were presented yesterday at the Heart Rhythm Society meeting in Denver. Previously, the main results of the trial, published in the Lancet, demonstrated that the Watchman was noninferior to warfarin, but the total number of events…
FDA Approves Combination Of Ezetimibe And Atorvastatin
May 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The FDA has approved a new combination drug from Merck for lowering cholesterol. The drug, which will carry the brand name of Liptruzet, is a combination of two previously approved cholesterol-lowering drugs, ezetimibe and atorvastatin. Merck said the new drug (pronounced “LIP-true-zett”) would be commercially available starting next week. Liptruzet will be available as a…
FDA Warns That Tolvaptan Can Lead To Serious Liver Injury
May 1, 2013 by 1 Comment
The FDA has issued a drug safety communication concerning tolvaptan (Samsca, Otsuka), a selective vasopression V2-receptor antagonist used in heart failure patients to treat clinically significant hypervolemic and euvolemic hyponatremia. The FDA said tolvaptan “should not be used for longer than 30 days and should not be used in patients with underlying liver disease because…
Anticoagulation Update: New Agent For Urgent Anticoagulation Reversal, Pradaxa Label Revised
April 30, 2013 by 1 Comment
Here are two small but important changes in the anticoagulation field: FDA approves new product for urgent reversal of anticoagulation. … Pradaxa label gains boxed warning. … Click here to read the full story on Forbes. …
The FDA, Surrogate Endpoints, And Blood Pressure Drugs
April 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment
In recent years the FDA has come under increasing fire for approving drugs on the basis of surrogate endpoints without any evidence of greater clinical benefit. The most famous example of this is the diabetes drug rosiglitazone. Despite strong evidence demonstrating that it was effective at lower blood glucose levels– the surrogate endpoint– serious questions…
FDA Schedules Another 2 Day Avandia Advisory Panel
April 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Once again the controversial diabetes drug rosiglitazone (Avandia, GlaxoSmithKline) will be the subject of a 2 day FDA hearing. According to a meeting announcement scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Monday, the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee will meet on June 5 and June 6 to “discuss the results…
FDA Approves First SGLT2 Inhibitor For Diabetes
March 29, 2013 by 1 Comment
The FDA said today that it had approved canaglifozin (Invokana, Johnson & Johnson), the first of a new class of diabetes drugs known as sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors. Canaglifozin is indicated to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes in conjunction with diet and exercise. The drug has been studied as monotherapy and in combination with…
Once Again FDA Rejects Oral Treprostinil For Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
March 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment
For the second time the FDA has issued a complete response letter rejecting the new drug application (NDA) of oral treprostinil for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) . The manufacturer of the drug, United Therapeutics, said in a press release that it planned to discuss the decision with the FDA. “We remain confident that…
CHMP And FDA Diverge On Mipomersen And Rivaroxaban
March 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The US FDA and Europe’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) have taken opposite views of two important and controversial new cardiovascular drugs. Although earlier this month the FDA rejected— for the second time– an ACS indication for the oral anticoagulant rivaroxaban (Xarelto), CHMP announced today that it had adopted a positive opinion for the…
FDA Panel Gives Tepid Endorsement To Abbott’s MitraClip
March 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The FDA’s Circulatory System Devices advisory panel today gave a tepid endorsement to Abbott Laboratories’ MitraClip device. The panel met to evaluate use of the novel device in patients with significant symptomatic mitral regurgitation (MR) who have been determined by a cardiac surgeon to be too high risk for open mitral valve surgery and in whom existing…
FDA Again Rejects ACS Indication for Rivaroxaban (Xarelto)
March 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
For the second time the FDA has turned down the supplemental new drug application (NDA) for the proposed indication of rivaroxaban (Xarelto, Johnson & Johnson) to treat patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). … In a new press release issues on Monday afternoon, the company restated its confidence “in the robustness and results of the ATLAS…
FDA Issues Warning Letter To CoreValve Investigator
February 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The FDA has issued a warning letter to an investigator in the Medtronic CoreValve US Pivotal Trial. The letter cites numerous serious violations relating to the treatment of subjects in the trial testing the experimental Medtronic TAVI (transcatheter aortic valve implantation) device. The violations were uncovered during an FDA inspection last summer. The subject of the FDA…
FDA Approves Second Generation MRI-Friendly Pacemaker System
February 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Medtronic announced today that the FDA had approved its Advisa DR MRI SureScan, a next generation pacemaker system specifically designed and tested for use with MRI scanners. The system, which Medtronic said would be launched immediately, includes the Advisa MRI device and two CapSureFix MRI SureScan leads. Click here to read the full post on Forbes….
ACC And STS Break New Ground To Test TAVR For Unapproved Uses
February 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment
In a startling break with tradition, the American College of Cardiology and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons will manage and run their own clinical trials testing expanded uses for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). The two medical groups have recently been granted an investigational device exemption (IDE) by the FDA for one such trial and…
Seeking Cardiovascular Safety Data, FDA Blocks Approval Of Novo Nordisk’s Long-Acting Insulin
February 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The FDA informed Novo Nordisk on Friday that it would not approve the company’s highly anticipated long-acting insulin degludec products (Tresiba and Ryzodeg) until it receives data from a cardiovascular outcomes trial. Approval of the drugs had been widely anticipated for this year, following a positive recommendation from an FDA advisory committee last fall. But…
Popular Antidepressants May Put Patients At Risk For Serious Arrhythmias
January 29, 2013 by 1 Comment
In August 2011 the FDA issued a safety communication recommending that the extremely popular antidepressant citalopram (Celexa) not be used at doses greater than 40 mg/day because of a potential increased risk for serious cardiac arrhythmias associated with prolongation of the QT interval. Now a study published in BMJ lends support to this warning and suggests that…
FDA Releases St. Jude Warning Letter
January 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The FDA on Tuesday released the full text of a warning letter sent last week to St. Jude Medical. The company had previously disclosed the existence of the letter in an SEC filing but did not make clear the full extent of the FDA warning. The letter from the FDA is the latest in a series of…
What’s Next for the iPhone ECG Following Regulatory Clearance?
January 4, 2013 by 2 Comments
from Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry: What’s Next for the iPhone ECG Following Regulatory Clearance? The user base and functionality of mobile ECG technology is set to expand. “After recently winning FDA clearance and CE Mark certification, the iPhone ECG from AliveCor (San Francisco, CA), is poised to kickstart a disruption of the traditional ECG…
Merck’s Combination Of Ezetimibe And Atorvastatin Back On NDA Path
January 3, 2013 by 1 Comment
A combination tablet containing the cholesterol-lowering drugs ezetimibe and atorvastatin is back on the path to possible FDA approval, according to Merck, which already markets Zetia (ezetimibe) and Vytorin, the combination of ezetimibe and simvastatin. Merck has repeatedly stumbled in its efforts to gain FDA approval of the proposed new drug, which has been dubbed…
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