SCIG Therapy Is Cost-Saving Versus IVIG in Canadian Study of Primary Immunodeficiency Patients
This first-ever prospective economic analysis by Canadian investigators found that home-based subcutaneous immune globulin (SCIG) therapy was associated with significantly lower average total nondrug costs than hospital-based intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) therapy for patients with primary immunodeficiency disorders.
VONVENDI Approved to Treat Von Willebrand Disease
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Shire’s VONVENDI, a recombinant von Willebrand factor treatment for perioperative management of bleeding in adults 18 years and older with von Willebrand disease.
WHO Recommends Typhoid Vaccine in Children in Endemic Countries
The World Health Organization is recommending a single dose of the typhoid conjugate vaccine for use in infants and children older than 6 months and a catch-up vaccine in children up to 15 years in countries where the infection is endemic.
FDA Approves First Biosimilar to Fight Cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Mvasi (bevacizumab-awwb), a biosimilar to Avastin (bevacizumab), the first biosimilar drug to treat cancer.
New Policy Guidance Issued to Improve Medicaid Beneficiary Enrollment
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is providing new policy guidance to help states design demonstration projects that promote the objectives of the Medicaid program and are consistent with federal statutory requirements.
First Treatment Approved by FDA to Treat EGPA
GlaxoSmithKline’s Nucala (mepolizumab) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treateosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA).
Influenza Vaccine Coverage Is Highest Among Workplaces with Vaccination Requirements
An Internet panel survey of healthcare personnel (HCP) showed the overall influenza vaccination coverage estimate among HCP was 78.6 percent in the 2016-17 season, an increase of 15 percentage points since the 2010-11 season, but similar to the 2013-14 through 2015-16 seasons, with the highest coverage among those whose workplace had vaccination requirements.
New Pill May Kill the Flu Virus in Patients in 24 Hours
Japanese drug maker Shionogi has created an experimental compound delivered via a single-dose pill that has been shown to effectively kill the influenza (flu) virus in patients within a single day.
HHS Forms Conscience and Religious Freedom Division
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has formed a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division in the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to restore federal enforcement of U.S. laws that protect the fundamental and unalienable rights of conscience and religious freedom.
Higher-Potency Rabies IG Vaccine Receives FDA Approval
Grifols’ HyperRAB (rabies immune globulin [human]) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat rabies postexposure prophylaxis.