Biotech Stocks Facing FDA Decision In February

(RTTNews) - We are almost one month into the New Year, and it has been a busy month at the FDA.

New steps to facilitate efficient generic drug review have been outlined by the U.S. regulatory agency to enhance competition, promote access and lower drug prices. Seeking to tackle the epidemic of opioid addiction, the FDA announced that it is requiring safety labeling changes to limit the use of prescription opioid cough and cold medicines containing codeine or hydrocodone in children younger than 18 years old.

New policy steps for strengthening public warning and notification of recalls have been drafted to ensure that consumers have timely actionable information for protecting themselves from any FDA-regulated, recalled product.

On a more regulatory front, here are a few of the things that were of interest this month.

AstraZeneca's (AZN) Lynparza became the first drug to treat certain patients with metastatic breast cancer who have a "BRCA" gene mutation when it was greenlighted by the FDA on January 12, 2018. Lynparza was first approved by the FDA in 2014 to treat certain patients with ovarian cancer.

Two oral testosterone drug candidates namely, Jatenzo, developed by privately-held Clarus Therapeutics Inc., and TLANDO, developed by Lipocine Inc. (LPCN), proposed to help restore normal testosterone levels in hypogonadal men, were voted down by an FDA panel on January 9 and 10, respectively.

Now, let's take a look at the biotech stocks that await a ruling from the FDA in February 2018.