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Comparative Confusion: What Does FDA Intend For Opioid Comparative Efficacy Data?

 
• By Derrick Gingery

Legally, FDA can't require comparative effectiveness data for approval, but draft guidance notes that the agency really wants it; for sponsors, that leaves more questions than answers, mainly: What will FDA do with an opioid application that doesn't contain such data.

Drugs question mark
How will FDA react if an opioid application does not include comparative efficacy and safety data? • Source: Shutterstock

The US Food and Drug Administration's interest in using comparative effectiveness information in its assessments of new opioid applications may confuse sponsors about the data's role and whether it is unofficially required for approval.

Grievances and questions about the legality of considering superiority data and the agency's interpretation of comparative advantage likely will highlight...

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UK MHRA: Bacteriophage Developers Wanted ‘More Clarity’ On UK Framework

 
• By Eliza Slawther

Julian Beach, interim executive director of healthcare quality and access at the UK drug regulator, the MHRA, tells the Pink Sheet how the agency is responding to increased efforts to develop bacteriophage therapies.

LDT Final Act? US FDA Will Not Appeal District Court Decision Vacating Final Rule

 
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The US FDA ended efforts to regulate lab-developed tests as medical devices for now when it did not appeal a decision from the Eastern District of Texas that tossed out the agency's final rule.

MHRA Backs Bacteriophage Innovation To Fight Antimicrobial Resistance

 
• By Eliza Slawther

The UK regulator wants to help companies to develop bacteriophages for the treatment of infections. Its first guidance on this topic offers advice to researchers and sets out the regulatory requirements they will need to meet.

US FDA Cell-Gene Therapy Head Says Agency Has Revived Stalled Programs

 
• By Sarah Karlin-Smith

CBER's Nicole Verdun wants rare disease sponsors with stalled treatments to circle back because the FDA's evolved thinking on clinical trial designs may offer another opportunity for cast away products.

More from Pathways & Standards

US FDA Cell-Gene Therapy Head Says Agency Has Revived Stalled Programs

 
• By Sarah Karlin-Smith

CBER's Nicole Verdun wants rare disease sponsors with stalled treatments to circle back because the FDA's evolved thinking on clinical trial designs may offer another opportunity for cast away products.

FDA’s FY 2026 Budget Request Lacks New Policy Proposals

 
• By Sue Sutter

The White House requested $6.8bn for the FDA, down 3.9% from the current funding level, but does not propose any legislative changes. In previous years, the agency used the budget process to seek statutory fixes specific to generic drugs and shortages.

User Fee-Funded Staff Would Drop In FY 2026 US FDA Budget

 
• By Derrick Gingery

The reductions across medical product programs in the agency’s budget request include hundreds of positions funded by user fees, which may foreshadow its upcoming user fee restructuring strategy.