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Separate But Equal: FDA Reaffirms Drug Safety Role in Approval Process

 
• By Kate Rawson

There's a new drug safety structure at FDA, with the Office of Surveillance & Epidemiology gaining greater influence in how the agency manages things like REMS and product withdrawals. In many ways, it's a codification of an existing relationship between safety and review officials. But some sponsors worry it will also result in a less friendly approval process.

When Novartis AG’s irritable bowel syndrome therapy tegaserod (Zelnorm) was found to carry an increased risk of cardiovascular adverse events last spring, drug review and drug safety officials at the Food & Drug Administration engaged in an intense internal debate over how to respond.

After much back-and-forth between officials at the Office of Surveillance & Epidemiology (drug safety) and the Office of New Drugs...

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Podium Policy Returns To US FDA, Or Is It Podcast Policy?

 
• By Michael McCaughan

US FDA critics have long decried the practice of using informal communications to convey regulatory expectations as podium policy. In the Makary era, the phrase may need to be updated because the agency now seems to be specializing in policy by podcast.

Branch Chief Vijay Kumar Named Acting Head Of US FDA’s Cell, Gene Therapy Office

 
• By Derrick Gingery

Kumar takes over as acting director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research’s Office of Therapeutic Products days after director Nicole Verdun was ousted.

EMA Explores Supporting Drug Development For High Unmet Need Disorder Scleroderma

 
• By Neena Brizmohun

While treatments for scleroderma are in development, none are approved for the condition that is associated with high morbidity and mortality. The European Medicines Agency says guidance on how to design development programs for the disorder is needed.

AI Will Bolster, Not Squelch, Patient Voice In Clinical Research, US FDA Says

 
• By Sue Sutter

Artificial intelligence tools used for clinical research should be developed with input from patients and focus on their needs and abilities, FDA experts said.

More from Pink Sheet

EMA Explores Supporting Drug Development For High Unmet Need Disorder Scleroderma

 
• By Neena Brizmohun

While treatments for scleroderma are in development, none are approved for the condition that is associated with high morbidity and mortality. The European Medicines Agency says guidance on how to design development programs for the disorder is needed.

EMA Nod For First MASH Drug Rezdiffra, Cell Therapy Zemcelpro And 11 Others

 
• By Eliza Slawther

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals’ Rezdiffra is on track to become the first medicine approved in the EU for non-cirrhotic metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis after the European Medicines Agency recommended that it be granted conditional marketing authorization.

BIO Notebook: Policy Uncertainty Constraining Dealmaking

 
• By Mandy Jackson and Joseph Haas

Highlights from Day Four of the BIO International Convention include policy concerns helping constrain dealmaking, Novartis discussing its approach to partnering, and Generate looking for funding to move into Phase III.