The recent withdrawal of accelerated approval indications for two cancer immunotherapies is part of a broader US Food and Drug Evaluation review of the expedited pathway and could portend more oncology drug and indication removals for failure to confirm clinical benefit.
Accelerated Approval: US FDA Review Of Expedited Program Could Bring More Withdrawals
Oncology Center of Excellence’s ‘industry-wide evaluation’ of accelerated approvals leads to removal of indications for two PD-1/L-1 inhibitors, AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Opdivo, both of which had failed confirmatory trials.

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The Brazilian medicines regulator will also offer more clarity on the requirements for radiopharmaceuticals that are exempt from registration.
Novartis is planning to file EU and US marketing applications for an intrathecal formulation of its spinal muscular atrophy gene therapy, Zolgensma, in H1 2025.
The FDA’s accelerated approval draft guidance has left stakeholders seeking clarification of the process for determining a surrogate marker or intermediate clinical endpoint is reasonably likely to confirm clinical benefit.
Experts working in the advanced therapy space say the US has less strict criteria for regulatory pathways for cell and gene therapies than the EU, particularly for products in early development.
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Novartis is planning to file EU and US marketing applications for an intrathecal formulation of its spinal muscular atrophy gene therapy, Zolgensma, in H1 2025.
The FDA’s accelerated approval draft guidance has left stakeholders seeking clarification of the process for determining a surrogate marker or intermediate clinical endpoint is reasonably likely to confirm clinical benefit.
A risk-based approach to human cell therapies and tissue-based products could incentivize development and prevent bad actors from taking advantage of the current FDA system.