Two exciting pieces of news from White Oak. The first is that the Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Dr. Ned Sharpless, has been tapped to be the interim Commissioner of the FDA. Whether or not this translates into his getting the official nod for the nomination is anyone’s guess. But he’s clearly the odds on favorite – and that’s a good thing.
The second item of interest is the release of new recommendations for broadening cancer clinical trial eligibility criteria. Per the FDA, these new guidelines will facilitate the design of clinical trials that are more representative of the patient population and maximize the generalizability of the trial results and the ability to understand the therapy's benefit-risk profile across the patient population likely to receive the drug in clinical practice.
This is Big News across a spectrum of issues – including expanded access. As Janet Woodcock mentioned earlier this year, “Expanded access programs are only an iterative step towards more regular and robust use of platform trials.” And, per Bob Temple, “Expanded access protocols can produce data that demonstrate effectiveness in populations outside those studied in registration trials, potentially leading to broader indications.”
Hopefully, Dr. Sharpless will continue to urge divisions – beyond Oncology – to embrace new clinical trial protocols for both orphan diseases and other areas of urgent public health concerns.
The second item of interest is the release of new recommendations for broadening cancer clinical trial eligibility criteria. Per the FDA, these new guidelines will facilitate the design of clinical trials that are more representative of the patient population and maximize the generalizability of the trial results and the ability to understand the therapy's benefit-risk profile across the patient population likely to receive the drug in clinical practice.
This is Big News across a spectrum of issues – including expanded access. As Janet Woodcock mentioned earlier this year, “Expanded access programs are only an iterative step towards more regular and robust use of platform trials.” And, per Bob Temple, “Expanded access protocols can produce data that demonstrate effectiveness in populations outside those studied in registration trials, potentially leading to broader indications.”
Hopefully, Dr. Sharpless will continue to urge divisions – beyond Oncology – to embrace new clinical trial protocols for both orphan diseases and other areas of urgent public health concerns.
