It can take at least a year to 18 months to get a new medicinal product approved in the US, European Union, or United Kingdom. Over the last decade, regulators have introduced initiatives to shorten the time to market for medicines that address seriously debilitating and life-threatening conditions. This article reviews the initiation and achievements of US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) breakthrough therapy designation (BTD), the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) ...

Abstract Over the last decade, regulators have introduced initiatives to reduce time to approval for medicines that address an unmet medical need. This article compares the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) breakthrough therapy designation (BTD), the European Medicine’s Agency’s (EMA’s) PRIority MEdicines (PRIME) scheme, and the innovative licensing and access pathway (ILAP) from the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and reviews th...

The European Commission (EC) on 22 October released a list of the 10 “most promising treatments” for COVID-19 as part of its strategy to support the development of new therapies.   A panel of scientific experts selected the 10 drugs from a pool of 82 therapeutic candidates that are in late-stage clinical development.    “In selecting the 10 most promising candidates, experts focused on the product categories with the highest potential impact on the pandemic: produc...

In recent years, new cell and gene therapies have been developed and approved in a number of countries, including Japan. The Japanese government fully supports academia and the pharmaceutical industry in the research and development of these innovative therapies, and in 2019, revised the Act on Securing Quality, Efficacy, and Safety of Products Including Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices to enact the conditional early approval system for accelerating the development and ...

The International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA) has issued a broad set of recommendations outlining how regulators and industry can set up track and trace systems that are globally aligned to ensure counterfeit or falsified products do not infiltrate supply chains.   The report , which was issued by a joint regulators/industry working group, explores the technical features that would allow for interoperable national and regional track and trace...

The EU is holding a survey to understand the needs of companies developing new and repurposed treatments for COVID-19. The follows the European Commission’s recent strategy to support the approval of up to five new COVID-19 drugs by the end of the year.   (RELATED: EC strategy aims for 3-5 new COVID therapeutics by year end , Regulatory Focus 6 May 2021)   In the survey, the EU asks for information about the COVID-19 therapies companies are developing, includi...

The European Commission’s Medical Device Coordination Group (MDCG) this week released its joint implementation and preparedness plan for the In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation (IVDR) set to take effect next May.   With the date of application of the Medical Devices Regulation (MDR) now in the rear view, MDCG’s attention is turned to challenges on the horizon related to IVDR. MDCG previously released a joint implementation plan for MDR in March 2020, bef...

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is temporarily revising its processes to cope with a rising volume of work related to the COVID-19 pandemic. EMA made the changes to ensure it can handle a “very active pipeline” that is expected to yield up to five COVID-19 therapies this year.   Faced with that workload, EMA is temporarily freeing co-rapporteurs from the need to provide their own assessment reports on initial marketing authorization applications for non-COVID-19 ...

As part of its broader pharmaceutical strategy, the European Commission on Tuesday released a roadmap for its planned revision of the EU’s aging pharmaceutical legislation next year.   The Commission adopted its pharmaceutical strategy last November following a public consultation earlier in the year. “[The strategy] is intended to make the European pharmaceutical system patient-centered, future-proof and crisis-resistant,” the Commission writes. (RELATED: European C...

The European Commission earlier this month issued an updated notice detailing how it handles duplicate marketing authorization applications (MAAs) for pharmaceuticals and biologics, three years after launching a targeted consultation on the practice.   While the notice still foresees an increase in the number of requests for duplicate MAAs, the Commission has closed off the ability of companies to request duplicate MAAs solely to introduce a first generic to their own ...

The European Commission on Wednesday advanced a delegated regulation that would give the European Medicines Agency (EMA) the authority to more quickly authorize COVID-19 vaccines that have been adapted to address variants of the virus.   “We are enabling EMA to fast-track regulatory approval of updated vaccines to tackle new variants. Faster approval means more vaccines in circulation and more Europeans protected from the virus,” said European Commission President Ursu...

The European Commission’s Medical Device Coordination Group (MDCG) last week issued guidance on administrative practices and alternative technical solutions on the application of certain Medical Device Regulation (MDR) provisions in the absence of a fully functional Eudamed system.   While the first of six Eudamed modules was made available late last year, the remaining modules are expected to be rolled out by the database’s May 2022 date of application. Some modules, ...