Tianyin Pharmaceutical Co., Inc. (NYSE MKT: TPI), a pharmaceutical company that specializes in patented biopharmaceutical, modernized traditional Chinese medicine (mTCM), branded generics and active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) updates it expects to receive the formal Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certificate for its Qionglai Facility's (QLF) from the China Food & Drug Administration's (CFDA) by the end of December 2014.

Prior to the official issuance of the GMP certificate, there is a public notice period which is likely to take place within this week. The public notice period is an important step of GMP certificate during which the pharmaceutical manufacturing facility's GMP application will be disclosed on the CFDA website. The public notice time will last for approximately 10 business days which is to be followed by immediate issuance of the GMP certificate. 

TPI is currently preparing for the smooth transition of production capacity from the current Longquan facilities to the new QLF immediately following the official issuance of GMP certificate.

 InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. (OTC: NVIV) announced approval by the U.S. FDA for an expedited enrollment plan for the company’s ongoing pilot trial of its investigational Neuro-Spinal Scaffold in patients with acute spinal cord injury. Under the new plan, barring significant safety issues, InVivo will submit two months of safety data to the FDA for the first subject enrolled in October, and will then open enrollment for the second subject in mid-January (about three months after the first subject was enrolled). Upon enrollment of the second subject, InVivo will submit to the FDA one month of safety data for that subject together with the previous subject’s data; concurrent enrollment for the remaining three subjects will then begin (about two months after the second subject is enrolled). There will be no additional mandatory holds between enrollment of the final three subjects. This differs from the previous plan, which required a mandatory three-month hold between sequential enrollment of each of the five subjects.

Mark Perrin, InVivo’s CEO, said, “Over the last calendar year, we have cultivated a collaborative and fruitful relationship with the FDA, and we couldn’t be happier with today’s announcement. Under our new plan, it’s possible to reduce the duration of our pilot trial by up to one year. This, of course, is dependent on patient presentation, but with today’s approval, along with our previously-announced approval of increasing the number of clinical sites up to 20, we are much better positioned to execute and complete this trial in an expedited fashion. Although we cannot predict when subjects will present, we now anticipate full enrollment in the pilot trial in 2015.”

This is the company’s first clinical study of its investigational degradable polymer Neuro-Spinal Scaffold. The IDE pilot study has been approved by the FDA and is intended to capture preliminary safety and effectiveness data of the Neuro-Spinal Scaffold in five subjects with acute thoracic spinal cord injury. InVivo then expects to conduct a pivotal study to obtain FDA approval to commence commercialization under a Humanitarian Device Exemption (HDE).