US regulators set public workshop on benefits, challenges, and unintended consequences of making REMS education program mandatory. Having a single source for education is also being evaluated. Agency has previously been concerned that a mandatory program might require a restricted distribution system.
The voluntary program to educate opioid prescribers about the appropriate use of painkillers has failed to curb the number of excess prescriptions and opioid overdoses, so the US Food and Drug Administration is considering making it mandatory.
The agency explained its shifting view on prescriber education in a Federal Register notice, to be published on 9...
The EU product information for Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide medicines is to be updated to include non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy as a side effect with a frequency of “very rare.”
Research would include initiatives on reproducing industry-sponsored studies, postmarket surveillance, and studies of long-term neurodevelopmental and metabolic outcomes for commonly prescribed pediatric drugs.
The FDA is not currently signaling that stringent rules for the process will be relaxed, but the agency's change in approach is notable.
Pharmacovigilance is a perfect rule-based and manual work-intensive playground for experimenting with AI. While some off-patent drug firms are already exploring new automation tools, regulation is lagging behind, leaving a gap for uncertainty.
The FDA wants to ensure participants in clinical trials involving genetic engineering done in China understand what the agency sees as privacy and security risks. The agency also wants cell therapy processing done outside of “hostile” countries.
Davis, a former FDA team leader in the Division of Psychiatry Products, rejoins the agency from the Usona Institute, which develops psychedelics. His background aligns with Commissioner Martin Makary’s goal of seeing new treatments approved for post-traumatic stress disorder.
As the EU tests the feasibility of a radical “all-in-one” procedure for combined drug and IVD studies, sponsors are being urged to approach this novel framework with flexibility and openness.
