A working group formed to consider the use of minimal residual disease (MRD) in the treatment of multiple myeloma and the development of new therapies has issued a call for additional regulatory guidance on the use of MRD as a marker in clinical trials.   The working group, a collaboration of advocacy organizations, patients, research foundations, academic, government agencies and industry, was initially convened in 2016 by the Foundation for the National Institutes of...

The European Commission (EC) has affirmed that it plans to launch the Clinical Trials Information System by the end of January 2022, as part of its broader efforts to modernize and streamline the conduct and oversight of clinical trials in the EU.   “The pandemic has clearly shown the importance of efficient clinical trials that do not compromise on rigorous safety and efficacy standards,” said Stella Kyriakides, EC commissioner for health and food safety, speaking o...

A small Georgia pharmaceutical company has received a notice of noncompliance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for not registering clinical trial results in a central government registry, as required by federal law.   The 26 July letter is the second issued by FDA for noncompliance with federal research reporting requirements outlined in Section 801 of the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (FDAAA). If results are not reported within on...

The COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the paradox surrounding the inclusion of pregnant and breastfeeding women in medical research. Even when these women are at higher risk for severe illness and hospitalization, they are unlikely to be included in clinical trials for medical products and vaccines. In a recent article, officials at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) signaled their commitment to work with industry and other regulators to support the inclus...

In the wake of the systemic changes flowing from the UK’s exit from the EU, the country’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) plans to streamline review of clinical trials for medicinal products.   Beginning in January 2022, new Clinical Trials of Investigational Medicinal Products (CTIMPs) will receive a combined review from MHRA and the UK Research Ethics Services, with collaboration from the UK’s Health Research Authority (HRA). The process is...

A final guidance document from the US Food and Drug Association (FDA) provides recommendations for drug developers on how best to evaluate the safety and efficacy of cancer drugs in patients with central nervous system (CNS) metastases. The document finalizes a draft guidance issued in August 2020.   "There are few effective treatments for patients with central nervous system (CNS) metastases – a type of cancer that has spread from the original tumor to the CNS and is ...

With the expanding globalization of drug development, regulations put forth under the International Council for Harmonisation’s (ICH’s) M10 guidance support the transition to a more harmonized industry. The draft guidance marks another step of integrating international expectations, in this case, as it applies to bioanalytical evaluations. This article examines the key elements of the M10 standard and recommends strategies for successful new drug or clinical trial applicat...

The day after receiving a first-ever threat of civil penalties for failure to report clinical trial results to ClinicalTrials.gov, Acceleron Pharma fulfilled a legal mandate by posting summary results to the federal trials website.   Though the negative results for its trial of dalantercept and axitinib in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma had been published elsewhere years earlier, Massachusetts-based Acceleron had not previously complied with federal report...

In a revised draft guidance, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has clarified how drug developers should adjust for covariates in certain clinical trials.   The revision provides “more detailed recommendations for the use of linear models for covariate adjustment and also includes recommendations for covariate adjustment using nonlinear models,” according to FDA’s Federal Register notice of the newly revised draft.   The updates to the April 2019 draft l...

New draft guidance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updates which endpoint assessments and evidence are needed to show efficacy for medicines that treat chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV).   The guidance shifts away from the previous approach, where sponsors would choose a primary efficacy endpoint of complete response, which was defined as no vomiting and no use of rescue antiemetic medication. Direct evaluation of nausea severity and freque...

Industry would like to see some “pragmatic” changes to the regulatory process for pediatric medicines in the EU, according to a recent presentation at RAPS Euro Convergence 2021.   These changes include incorporating scientific discussion throughout a product’s life cycle, comparable reporting requirements for pediatric trials to those for adult trials, and optimization and simplification of pediatric investigation plan (PIP) procedures and compliance checks, said Thom...

World regulatory authorities are calling for increased transparency from the pharmaceutical industry in how they report and give access to clinical trial data. In a joint statement, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA) cited need for “wide access to clinical data for all new medicines and vaccines.”   Data related to a therapy or vaccine “must be published at the time of finalization of the regu...