Commissioner Makary’s pronouncement in April of a new pathway for rare disease therapies based on a plausible mechanism of action or biological plausibility generated enormous excitement. The Commissioner’s general statement found meaningful expression in twin announcements this past Wednesday: one by Dr. Tidmarsh of a …
We blogged recently about the new Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher (“CNPV”) program, noting that we were eagerly awaiting additional details. On July 22, 2025, FDA announced some of these additional details and opened the CNPV program for applications. These additional details are to be found on …
After teasing a new rapid review pilot program for the past few weeks, on June 17, 2025, FDA officially announced the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher (“CNPV”) program to expedite new drug and biologic (but not device or drug-device combination product) reviews. As described in the …
Among other things, EO 14212 established the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission (with HHS Secretary Kennedy as its Chair) and tasked it with a tall order: submission to the President of an Assessment that tackled 10(!) complex public health issues within 100(!) days. Perhaps …
In early April, Cellares became the first company to announce receipt of an Advanced Manufacturing Technology (“AMT”) designation from FDA. The designation was granted by CBER to Cellares for its automated cell therapy platform, the Cell Shuttle. We were excited to see the news and …
The rare pediatric disease priority review voucher program remains in its sunsetting state – the current authority only allows for granting of such vouchers if the drug was designated as a drug for a rare pediatric disease not later than December 20, 2024, and for …
We recently blogged about a new December 2024 draft guidance about accelerated approval (the “December 2024 draft guidance”). That post largely focused on endpoints as well as the broader context for when accelerated approval is appropriate. However, as we note in that post, the design, …
The Winter Solstice, signifying the shortest day of the year, was Saturday, December 21. Although the earliest sunset of the year was actually in early December, this day also marked another premature sunset – the beginning of the end of the rare pediatric disease priority …
On November 19, 2024, FDA released a draft guidance titled “Frequently Asked Questions – Developing Potential Cellular and Gene Therapy Products.” As much of the content of this draft guidance for cellular and gene therapy (“CGT”) products is articulated elsewhere, this document serves as a …
The neonatal period is a unique and complex period of rapid growth and development throughout the body, thus creating unique and complex challenges in medical product development for this population. These changes may affect the safety of a product used in this population in ways …
The Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Voucher program has had a bit of a tumultuous history in its 12 short years of existence. Designed to incentivize the development of drugs for pediatric rare diseases where such development may not otherwise have occurred, vouchers may be …
The Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act (“FDORA”), enacted in December 2022, added a requirement that sponsors submit Diversity Action Plans (“DAPs”) for certain clinical studies involving drugs, biological products, or devices (codified at 21 U.S.C. § 355(z)(3) and 21 U.S.C. § 360j(g)(9)(A)). For drugs, …
The trio of CDER, CBER, and CDRH released a new draft guidance titled “Use of Data Monitoring Committees in Clinical Trials” that revises the 2006 guidance “Establishment and Operation of Clinical Trial Data Monitoring Committees” and, when final, will replace the 2006 guidance. The new …
On Friday, February 23, 2024, FDA announced its final decision to withdraw the approval of Pepaxto (melphalan flufenamide), which was approved in February 2021 in combination with dexamethasone for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) who have received at …
FDA, like much of the rest of the world, has been adjusting to the rapid changes in our world these last few years. For nearly three years following the declaration of the COVID-19 health emergency, there were no in-person meetings held. Then, in early 2023, …
