Per, “How to Fix the Troubled FDA” (NYT, January 12, 2020)
Is the FDA approving drugs too fast or not fast enough? Are they demanding too much data or not enough? There isn’t any dearth of commentary supporting either proposition. There is, however, no evidence to support the sound bite that the FDA is approving “everything,” or that every product that requests an expedited pathway receives it, or that “all” those that do receive an expedited pathway designation get approved, or that every product that does reach the market via an expedited approval is in some way more dangerous than other medicines.
· An analysis of every product (364) requesting a Breakthrough Therapy designation (from July 2012 – June 2016) shows that CDER granted 133 (37%) of those requests, denied 182 (50%), and the sponsor withdrew their request 49 times (13%) before the agency made a decision.[i] Hardly a regulatory carte blanche.
· In 2013, the first full year of the Breakthrough Designation, the FDA approved 3 new drugs, 14 in 2014, and 9 in 2015.[ii] Hardly an onslaught of new medicines.
· Among 22 drugs with 24 indications granted accelerated approval by the FDA in 2009-2013, efficacy was often confirmed in post-approval trials a minimum of 3 years after approval, although confirmatory trials and preapproval trials had similar design elements, including reliance on surrogate measures as outcomes.[iii]
New science and the strategies and tactics to incorporate them into regulatory thinking does not mean a free pass for bad science. The FDA must be an innovation accelerator with a recalibrated sense of regulatory velocity (Speed + Accuracy + Public Health Need). It’s the agency’s next step toward a more appropriate and entrepreneurial regulatory attitude
Is the FDA approving drugs too fast or not fast enough? Are they demanding too much data or not enough? There isn’t any dearth of commentary supporting either proposition. There is, however, no evidence to support the sound bite that the FDA is approving “everything,” or that every product that requests an expedited pathway receives it, or that “all” those that do receive an expedited pathway designation get approved, or that every product that does reach the market via an expedited approval is in some way more dangerous than other medicines.
· An analysis of every product (364) requesting a Breakthrough Therapy designation (from July 2012 – June 2016) shows that CDER granted 133 (37%) of those requests, denied 182 (50%), and the sponsor withdrew their request 49 times (13%) before the agency made a decision.[i] Hardly a regulatory carte blanche.
· In 2013, the first full year of the Breakthrough Designation, the FDA approved 3 new drugs, 14 in 2014, and 9 in 2015.[ii] Hardly an onslaught of new medicines.
· Among 22 drugs with 24 indications granted accelerated approval by the FDA in 2009-2013, efficacy was often confirmed in post-approval trials a minimum of 3 years after approval, although confirmatory trials and preapproval trials had similar design elements, including reliance on surrogate measures as outcomes.[iii]
New science and the strategies and tactics to incorporate them into regulatory thinking does not mean a free pass for bad science. The FDA must be an innovation accelerator with a recalibrated sense of regulatory velocity (Speed + Accuracy + Public Health Need). It’s the agency’s next step toward a more appropriate and entrepreneurial regulatory attitude
