The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Rybelsus (semaglutide) oral tablets to improve control of blood sugar in adult patients with type 2 diabetes, along with diet and exercise. Rybelsus is the first glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) receptor protein treatment approved for use in the United States that does not need to be injected.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is announcing Project Orbis, an initiative of the FDA Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE). Project Orbis provides a framework for concurrent submission and review of oncology drugs among its international partners. Under this project, the FDA, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and Health Canada collaboratively reviewed applications for two oncology drugs, allowing for simultaneous decisions in all three countries.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Ofev (nintedanib) capsules to slow the rate of decline in pulmonary function in adults with interstitial lung disease associated with systemic sclerosis or scleroderma, called SSc-ILD. It is the first FDA-approved treatment for this rare lung condition.

EMA and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are aligned in more than 90% of marketing authorisation decisions for new medicines. This is one of the findings of a joint EMA/FDA analysis comparing decisions on 107 new medicine applications at the two agencies between 2014 and 2016. The study also looked at applications for which the agencies had differing outcomes in terms of type of approval and indication.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Pretomanid Tablets in combination with bedaquiline and linezolid for the treatment of a specific type of highly treatment-resistant tuberculosis (TB) of the lungs.

"The threat of antimicrobial-resistant infections is a key challenge we face as a public health agency," said FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner Amy Abernethy, M.D., Ph.D.

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted approval to Turalio (pexidartinib) capsules for the treatment of adult patients with symptomatic tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT) associated with severe morbidity or functional limitations and not responsive to improvement with surgery.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Baqsimi nasal powder, the first glucagon therapy approved for the emergency treatment of severe hypoglycemia that can be administered without an injection. Severe hypoglycemia occurs when a patient’s blood sugar levels fall to a level where he or she becomes confused or unconscious or suffers from other symptoms that require assistance from another person to treat.