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Memo To US FDA: ‘Too Fast!’ Plus ‘Too Slow!’ Does Not Mean ‘Just Right!’

 
• By Michael McCaughan

There is an old adage that FDA only has two speeds: too fast and too slow. Recent pushback on neurology reviews and Covid vaccines show that paradox – but also the flaw of treating contradictory criticism as a sign that everything is actually fine.

US FDA has much more sophisticated decisions to make. • Source: Alamy

US Food & Drug Administration Center for Drug Evaluation & Research Director Patrizia Cavazzoni’s first appearance as a Congressional witness in her new role as the top drug regulator at FDA must have felt disconcerting.

She appeared before the House Energy & Commerce/Health Subcommittee on 29 July after weeks of headlines about FDA’s decision to grant Accelerated Approval to Biogen, Inc./Eisai Co., Ltd.’s...

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More from US FDA

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.

Drug, Biologic Policy Staff Return To US FDA, As RIF Process Hangs In Legal Limbo

 
• By Sarah Karlin-Smith

The FDA employees with reduction-in-force notice rescissions include some who work on user fee negotiations, but staff still subject to RIFs will not officially separate from the agency this week due to ongoing legal challenges.

More from Agency Leadership

Pink Sheet Podcast: US FDA’s Private Pharma CEO Tour, HHS Changes COVID-19 Vaccine Advice

 
• By Derrick Gingery, Sarah Karlin-Smith, Sue Sutter, and Nielsen Hobbs

Pink Sheet reporter and editors consider the issues that could emerge during upcoming private FDA forums with pharma CEOs, as well as the impact of the surprising move by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to limit the CDC recommendation for annual COVID-19 vaccine boosters.

‘The Question Is, What’s Going To Happen Next?’ – The Future For Biosimilars In Europe

 
• By Dave Wallace

With European biosimilars developers buoyed by recent regulatory moves, Medicines for Europe’s Isabell Remus and Julie Maréchal-Jamil discuss the next steps forward for the industry.

US FDA’s Prasad: ‘We Will Always Embrace Surrogate Endpoints’

 
• By Sarah Karlin-Smith

The new CBER director, once best known in the pharma world for criticizing accelerated approval, committed to expediting cancer drugs with surrogate endpoints.