No matter how you look at the numbers, it was another bad year for new product launches in the US. FDA approved more new drugs than last year, but just barely. And the number of products going off-patent actually exceeded the number of new launches. The sparse crop of new drugs this decade means lean years ahead for the pharma industry.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has agreed to provide national Medicare coverage for mitral valve transcatheter edge-to-edge repair under a new coverage with evidence development policy. See what Neil Moat, chief medical officer for Abbott’s structural heart business, said about it here.

South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration will transition from ICCR observers to full members, joining regulatory authorities from the US, Europe, Japan, Canada and Brazil. PCPC’s Francine Lamoriello, EVP of global affairs, discusses.