FDA
Ahead of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearings, experts—and RFK’s own family—expressed concerns about his vaccine-related views, though the same experts are largely unfazed by the level of power he and Marty Makary could ultimately wield over the FDA.
FEATURED STORIES
Since its inception in 1992, the FDA’s accelerated approval pathway has helped shepherd nearly 300 new drugs to the market. However, recent years have seen a number of high-profile market withdrawals and failed confirmatory trials.
BMS’ KarXT targets muscarinic receptors and “is at least 2-3 years ahead of the competition” including AbbVie and Neurocrine Biosciences, Truist Securities wrote in a note to investors.
The FDA has six target action dates ahead to round out September as drugs for gastroparesis, Niemann-Pick disease type C and more await decisions.
Subscribe to ClinicaSpace
Clinical trial results, research news and highlights from our editorial team, in your inbox every Monday
THE LATEST
The EMA approved a kidney disease–related label expansion for the blockbuster GLP-1 drug after a study showed reduced risk of death by 20%.
By speeding lifesaving drugs’ way to market and focusing on the underlying causes of disease, the pathway has helped save many lives.
The FDA’s year-end rush includes nine target action dates, mostly for rare disease and cancer therapies.
The program has recently become controversial as a number of high-profile advanced approvals were granted only for the drugs to fail a confirmatory trial later on. Now, the FDA has clearly laid out expectations.
The agency’s warning letter outlines Applied Therapeutics’ failure to provide adequate information regarding the clinical trial—including a dosing error for govorestat—claims that the company said it had already addressed.
Novartis, Gilead, Roche and Takeda commit to new partners in a spate of mid-sized collaborations this week. Meanwhile, Applied Therapeutics’ stock tanks 80% after govorestat is denied approval, Intra-Cellular Therapies seeks to expand Caplyta into major depressive disorder and the FDA investigates the safety of bluebird bio’s Skysona.
The cancers were diagnosed 19 to 92 months after Skysona treatment.
After extending its review period to evaluate additional submissions, the FDA ultimately denied Applied Therapeutics’ govorestat for galactosemia, citing “deficiencies” with the application. The biotech plans to meet with the regulator to discuss the best way forward for the drug.
Despite hotly debated biomarkers and failed or delayed confirmatory trials, the accelerated approval program has a track record of propelling R&D for some of medicine’s most challenging illnesses.
Currently, Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound (tirzepatide) are not on the FDA’s shortage list but compounded pharmacies are still making them. That’s unprecedented.