Few FDA publications are as eagerly anticipated in the drug development world as the twice-a-decade PDUFA Reauthorization Performance Goals and Procedures (hereinafter the “goals letter”). When FDA published the fiscal years (FY) 2023-2027 goals letter at the end of August, making known their commitments and …
For the last 13 years, this blogger has been at the center of what has now been dubbed “patient-focused drug development.” For 6 years, I served as a patient liaison within FDA in what was then called the Office of Special Health Issues. This was …
Yesterday’s FDA approval of Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm (aducanumab-avwa), is historic and is of a magnitude that it may be harbinger for future Agency actions, especially in neuropsychiatric conditions. This has been a decision we’ve been closely following. So much so, in November, right after …
On December 4, 2020, FDA finalized the guidance document, Requesting FDA Feedback on Combination Products (Guidance), which was issued to fulfill the requirement under Section 3038 of the Cures Act. As a reminder, Section 3038 contained several provisions to help facilitate FDA engagement and appropriate …
On November 23, 2020, the FDA announced that it had approved Alnylam Pharmaceuticals’ Oxlumo (lumasiran) as the first treatment for primary hyperoxaluria 1 (PH1), a rare metabolic disorder that causes recurrent kidney stones and loss of kidney function. In the Agency’s press release, it credited …
We all have had to adapt to a world with COVID-19 concerns. One of the challenges has been how to continue having Externally-Led Patient-Focused Drug Development (PFDD) meetings in these times of social distancing, travel restrictions, mask requirements, and other efforts to “flatten the curve”. On …
In the White House coronavirus updates, President Trump has commended FDA for working “around the clock” to expedite the review of new medical products to help with the testing and treatment of COVID-19. This is not puffery, as we at HP&M have experienced lightning fast …
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on day-to-day life for all of us in an attempt to “flatten the curve” to slow transmission of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). However, for those of us involved in the development of medical products, quarantines, site closures, travel …
On November 13, 2019, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Forum on Regenerative Medicine hosted a workshop on Exploring Novel Clinical Trial Designs for Gene-Based Therapies. The Forum was tasked with exploring the design complexities and ethical issues associated with gene- and …
On October 1, 2019, FDA issued its second Patient-Focused Drug Development (PFDD) draft guidance – the next in a series of four methodological guidance documents, which discuss the collection of patient experience data to support decision-making related to drug development and approval (see some of …
Developing drugs for kids with rare diseases is important work. If you would like to hear from one of these kids, check out this video: “My Philosophy for a Happy Life,” by the late Sam Berns. Offering priority review vouchers to sponsors that develop new drugs …
On April 29, 2019, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) convened a public meeting entitled “Patient Perspectives on the Impact of Rare Diseases: Bridging the Commonalities.” This meeting was attended by people with rare diseases, their caregivers and family members, patient advocates, industry representatives and …
On May 24, 2019, FDA approved Avexis’s BLA for its gene therapy, Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi), for treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). This represents the first approval of a systemically-administered somatic gene replacement therapy. (The first gene therapy approved by FDA was Luxturna in Dec. …
On May 8, 2019, the FDA published a new draft guidance for industry titled “Submitting Documents Using Real-World Data and Real-World Evidence to FDA for Drugs and Biologics.” This draft guidance was produced as a joint effort from CDER and CBER and is intended to provide …
On March 25, 2019, FDA issued a draft guidance, “Rare Diseases: Natural History Studies for Drug Development,” to help inform the design and implementation of natural history studies that can be used to support the development of drugs and biological products for rare diseases (hereinafter …
