The injectable glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP)/glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist tirzepatide, which was approved by the FDA as Mounjaro for treatment of type 2 diabetes in 2022, has now been approved as Zepbound (Lilly) for chronic weight management in adults who have a BMI ≥30 kg/m2 or a BMI ≥27 kg/m2 and at least one weight-related comorbidity. The injectable GLP-1 receptor agonists liraglutide (Saxenda) and semaglutide (Wegovy) are approved for chronic weight management in patients ≥12 years...

The recombinant respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine Arexvy (GSK) has now received FDA approval for use in adults 50-59 years old who are at increased risk for lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD) caused by RSV. It was previously approved only for adults ≥60 years old. Two other RSV vaccines have received FDA approval: Abrysvo, a recombinant vaccine that is licensed for use in adults ≥60 years old and in pregnant women at 32-36 weeks' gestation to prevent RSV-associated LRTD in their infants, and mResvia, an mRNA vaccine recently licensed for use in adults ≥60 years old...

On January 3, the FDA amended its Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty) to incorporate the following changes. The anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody combinations casirivimab plus imdevimab (REGEN-COV) and bamlanivimab plus etesevimab are not active against the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2.

The oral cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib (Verzenio – Lilly) has been approved by the FDA for use in combination with endocrine therapy (tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor) for adjuvant treatment of patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative, node-positive, early breast cancer at high risk of recurrence.1It was previously approved for the same indication, but patients were also required to have a Ki-67 score ≥20%. About 70% of all breast cancers are HR-positive and HER2-negative. Ki-67 is a...

The FDA has granted regular approval to the oral kinase inhibitor capmatinib (Tabrecta – Novartis) for treatment of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in adults whose tumors have a mutation that leads to mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) exon 14 skipping. MET exon 14 skipping mutations occur in 3-4% of NSCLC cases. The drug received accelerated approval for the same indication in 2020 based on initial overall response rates and duration of response.

The tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) tenecteplase (TNKase – Genentech) has been approved by the FDA for treatment of acute ischemic stroke in adults. It is the second tPA to be approved in the US for this indication; alteplase (Activase) was approved in 1996. Tenecteplase was approved in 2000 to reduce the risk of death associated with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Prademagene zamikeracel (Zevaskyn – Abeona Therapeutics), an autologous cell sheet-based gene therapy, has been approved by the FDA for treatment of wounds in patients with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. It is the first autologous cell sheet-based gene therapy to be approved in the US for this indication. Beremagene geperpavek gel (Vyjuvek), a herpes simplex virus type 1 vector-based gene therapy, is approved for once-weekly use in patients ≥6 months old with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa.

A transdermal formulation of the second-generation (atypical) antipsychotic asenapine (Secuado – Noven) has been approved by the FDA for once-daily treatment of schizophrenia in adults. Asenapine is the first antipsychotic to become available in a transdermal formulation in the US. A twice-daily sublingual tablet formulation of asenapine (Saphris) has been available since 2009.

The FDA has issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for a lower-strength (10 mcg/0.2 mL) formulation of the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Pfizer/BioNTech (Comirnaty) for use in children 5-11 years old. The original formulation of (Comirnaty) (30 mcg/0.3 mL) is FDA-licensed for use in persons ≥16 years old and available under an EUA for use in adolescents 12-15 years old.

The oral poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza – AstraZeneca) has been approved by the FDA for adjuvant treatment of adults with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline BRCA-mutated (gBRCAm), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative, high-risk early breast cancer who received prior neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy. The drug was previously approved for treatment of adults with deleterious or suspected deleterious gBRCAm, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who received chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant, adjuvant, or metastatic...