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Growing Pains For US FDA Oversight Of Opioids: Starting Over On Assessment Of REMS

 
• By Michael McCaughan

Whether CME for pain management has the intended impact on prescribing is likely focus of new ‘suite of studies’ intended to assess the opioid REMS program. The challenges for FDA include teasing out the impact of the risk management program amid all the other public health efforts on opioids.

Restart

The US Food & Drug Administration is likely to revise the plans for assessing the opioid class-wide risk management program to ask for a number of different studies to test aspects of the continuing medical education program incorporated into the Risk Evaluation & Mitigation Strategy program.

Based on feedback during a 11 December workshop on the opioid REMS assessment process, FDA may need to “to...

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New US FDA Biologics License Pathway Could Be Missing Link To Reduce Animal Testing

 
• By Bridget Silverman

Akin to the 505(b)(2) NDA, a new biologic pathway could reduce the need for animal testing, FDA toxicologist says. Expanded use of generally accepted scientific knowledge (GASK), which few sponsors have attempted despite a 2023 draft guidance, would also help.

US FDA’s ADHD Drug Relabeling Advances A MAHA Priority, Reviving Data Dispute

 
• By Bridget Silverman

Extended-release stimulants will add a new ‘Limitation of Use’ about weight loss in children under 6 years, reflecting concerns about overuse from the Make America Healthy Again commission, a concern multiple studies did not find valid.

CAR-T REMS Removal Should Boost Access, But Long-Term Follow-Up, Black Box Remain

 
• By Sarah Karlin-Smith

The REMS removal and labeling changes should open up CAR-T treatment to many more US patients, although other regulatory hurdles and safety language that experts had wanted removed still stand.

US CDC Vaccine Committee Revives Thimerosal Debate: A Portent Of Things To Come?

 
• By Bridget Silverman

The new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted for new recommendations on the decades-old thimerosal safety issue and lays intellectual groundwork to revisit other past controversies and decisions.

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EMA’s PRIME Scheme Explored: Growing Designations - But Are Accelerated Assessments Slipping?

 
• By Neena Brizmohun

While the first six months of the year saw eight new drugs targeting a range of diseases enter the European Medicines Agency’s priority medicines scheme, and three PRIME-designated treatments go on to win EU marketing approval, use of the accelerated assessment mechanism appears to be limited.

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.

US FDA’s CRL Release More Incremental Than ‘Radical’ Transparency

 
• By Bridget Silverman

The transparency initiative collects CRLs already made public in approval packages on its drugs@fda site to post on the openFDA public portal.