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US COVID-19 Advisors Vexed By Vaccine Post-EUA Placebo Controls, But Agree On Need

 
• By Sarah Karlin-Smith

FDA indicates it expects sponsors and other government agencies to come up with ways to fulfill its request for placebo-controlled studies post-emergency use authorization of COVID-19 vaccines, but neither it nor vaccines advisory committee see a clear way to do this. 

No U turn sign (source: Shutterstock)
Sponsors need to push ahead with placebo-controlled COVID-19 vaccine studies post-EUA, agency advisors say. • Source: Shutterstock

Coronavirus vaccine sponsors may be stuck with the US Food and Drug Administration’s call for placebo-controlled follow up of COVID-19 vaccines after they receive emergency use authorization. The agency's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee reaffirmed the need for such data to support a full biologics license application during its 22 October meeting.

Yet neither the FDA nor the advisory committee offered companies much advice on how to achieve this outcome, which they...

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More from US FDA Performance Tracker

August Brings Fresh Faces And Tough Calls To US FDA User Fee Calendar

 
• By Bridget Silverman

The FDA could act on 17 applications, including 10 novel agents, during August. Only one would be a second-cycle review.

Complete Response Letter Trio Raises Prospect Of Tidal Shift In Regenerative Medicine Regulation

 
• By Bridget Silverman

Replimune's RP1 oncolytic immunotherapy became the third regenerative medicine to receive an FDA complete response letter this month as the agency appears to re-visit previous agreements about accelerated approval.

US FDA’s Second Half 2025 User Fee Goals Swing Toward Respiratory Disease

 
• By Bridget Silverman

The 43 novel agents with user fee goal dates in the remainder of 2025 have fewer oncologics and infectious disease drugs than the first half of the year.

Slowdown: US FDA’s 2025 Novel Approvals Are On Below-Average Pace

 
• By Bridget Silverman

US FDA's 25 novel approvals in 2025 fell short of the agency's five-year average count, driven by a drop in drugs center approvals; 45 user fee goals remain in second half of year.

More from Regulatory Trackers

US FDA’s Second Half 2025 User Fee Goals Swing Toward Respiratory Disease

 
• By Bridget Silverman

The 43 novel agents with user fee goal dates in the remainder of 2025 have fewer oncologics and infectious disease drugs than the first half of the year.

Slowdown: US FDA’s 2025 Novel Approvals Are On Below-Average Pace

 
• By Bridget Silverman

US FDA's 25 novel approvals in 2025 fell short of the agency's five-year average count, driven by a drop in drugs center approvals; 45 user fee goals remain in second half of year.

Global Pharma Guidance Tracker - June 2025

 
• By Vibha Sharma and Anabel Costa-Ferreira

Stay up to date on regulatory guidelines from around the world with the Pink Sheet’s Guidance Tracker. The complete Global Pharma Guidance Tracker, with sortable and searchable listings going back to 2014, is available online.