Confusion and concerns over portions of a tobacco-related final rule have pushed the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to delay indefinitely the implementation of the sections dealing with the types of evidence FDA may consider to determine how a manufacturer intends for its medical product to be used. "This is a determination that can have significant implications for, among other things, how manufacturers communicate about and promote their products. How we determi...

The US Senate and House of Representatives this week passed a bill forging a compromise over a controversial provision in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 ( NDAA ) that would have allowed the Department of Defense (DoD) to authorize the use of medical products on an emergency basis. The bill is partly the result of criticism raised over the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) sluggishness in approving a French freeze-dried plasma pr...

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Friday said that its Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) is recommending six new drugs, a biosimilar and three generic medicines for EU approval. The six medicines the agency is recommending are: Dr. Falk Pharma's Jorveza (budesonide) to treat eosinophilic esophagitis, a rare inflammatory condition of the esophagus. Jorveza was granted an accelerated assessment and orphan designation; Merck Sharp & Dohme's Pr...

The House of Representatives' Rules Committee on Monday will take up a provision that would expand the US Department of Defense's (DoD) ability to approve, on an emergency basis, medical products, as US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb pushed for the provision to be rejected. According to the committee's conference report on the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2018, the House will add the Senate amendment to authorize the s...

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Thursday announced that a web platform to help patients find information on clinical trials for cancer drugs would be expanded to include orphan disease drugs. The decision follows a House Energy & Commerce Committee hearing last month on a bill that passed the Senate in August and seeks to speed and increase access to experimental therapies for terminally ill patients. In written comments to...

The Government Accountability Office on Tuesday issued a report calling on the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to assess the effectiveness of efforts to expand the use of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid addiction. The report follows a House hearing last week in which FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced several steps the agency will take to promote the development and use of MAT. Background The report and Gottlieb's testim...

A new paper by a team of US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials finds that only about 30%of drugs requested for expanded access go on to be approved by the agency. "Expanded access provides just that: access. There is no guarantee that the product sought will be effective and/or safe, much less that it will be effective and/or safe for the particular patient," the authors write. Background In recent years, the debate over patient access to unapproved drugs has...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has laid out the process by which doctors can access an investigational drug for treatment in an individual patient in an emergency situation, both during and after normal business hours in a new Manual of Policies and Procedures. The release of the MAPP coincides with a bill passed in the Senate and making its way through the House that aims to ease the process by which terminal patients can access such investigational dr...

With the rise of Right-to-Try legislation across states in the US, it might seem like patients with serious or life-threatening ailments and no other comparable medical options might have difficulties in obtaining access to investigational drugs outside of a clinical trial because of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But a new Government Accountability Office report released Tuesday lends credence to many who have voiced concerns with the Right-to-Try laws,...

Biopharmaceutical companies and regulators across Europe have said that in the 10 years since the Pediatric Regulation took effect, some pediatric therapeutic areas have seen progress, though the pediatric-use marketing authorization (PUMA) has not lived up to expectations. Overall, according to a summary of the comments received from 75 stakeholders on the consultation from last November , the European Commission noted that the reward system built into the regul...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday announced that it is amending its regulations governing humanitarian device exemptions (HDE) to reflect changes brought on by the 21st Century Cures Act . These exemptions provide a pathway for device makers looking to develop medical devices for small patient populations by exempting them from demonstrating a device's effectiveness. Instead, a company must demonstrate that the humanitarian use device (HUD) "will no...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted more than 99% of requests for patients to access unapproved drugs and biologics in fiscal year 2016, according to data released last week. Through FDA's expanded access program, the agency allows patients with serious or life-threatening diseases to access unapproved drugs. Under the program, physicians can request access to a drug for individual patients or a group of patients under an expanded access investigational ne...