FDA Finalizes Comparative Safety, Efficacy Requirement For New Opioids

New opioids will need to provide a “significant advantage” over approved products under new requirements that treat opioids “differently” from other drug classes, outgoing Commissioner Gottlieb says.

Healthcare, opioid epidemic and drug abuse concept with the map of USA filled with oxycodone and hydrocodone pharmaceutical pills on the American flag

Throughout his two-year tenure at the US FDA, outgoing Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has been known for a deliberate, incremental approach to regulatory policy, ensuring both a consistent drumbeat of news while exhibiting constant (albeit often small) signs of progress.

That communications strategy was on full display at Gottlieb’s penultimate congressional appearance: a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the...

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