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Cancer And Accelerated Approval: FDA To Crack Down On Single-Arm Trials, Refractory Disease Focus

 
• By Sarah Karlin-Smith

US FDA cancer chief Rick Pazdur plans to send industry to ‘rehab’ with Project Frontrunner, which will push for development of cancer drugs in randomized controlled trials in earlier disease. Goal is to reduce time of uncertainty between accelerated approval and confirmatory evidence.

man doing one arm push up with child on back
FDA wants sponsors to curtail use of single-arm studies in oncology. • Source: Shutterstock

The US Food and Drug Administration’s Oncology Center of Excellence is kicking off a new project to push sponsors towards more randomized controlled trials and studies of drugs in earlier disease settings as part of accelerated approval applications.

The new emphasis, known as Project Frontrunner, should shorten the period of uncertainty between a drug’s accelerated approval and when...

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More from Approval Standards

Post-Approval, Real-Time Monitoring Will Help Approval Standards, US FDA’s Makary Says

 
• By Sue Sutter

The FDA will use electronic health records to “get eyes” on drugs immediately after approval, Commissioner Martin Makary told the DIA 2025 Global Annual Meeting. He also wants to reduce development time with better communication and new approval pathways.

Generic Drug Office’s Policy Staff Returning To US FDA

 
• By Derrick Gingery

The group had been laid off as part of the 1 April reduction-in-force, which led to missed guidance publication deadlines.

UK MHRA: Bacteriophage Developers Wanted ‘More Clarity’ On UK Framework

 
• By Eliza Slawther

Julian Beach, interim executive director of healthcare quality and access at the UK drug regulator, the MHRA, tells the Pink Sheet how the agency is responding to increased efforts to develop bacteriophage therapies.

LDT Final Act? US FDA Will Not Appeal District Court Decision Vacating Final Rule

 
• By Brian Bossetta

The US FDA ended efforts to regulate lab-developed tests as medical devices for now when it did not appeal a decision from the Eastern District of Texas that tossed out the agency's final rule.

More from Pathways & Standards

Post-Approval, Real-Time Monitoring Will Help Approval Standards, US FDA’s Makary Says

 
• By Sue Sutter

The FDA will use electronic health records to “get eyes” on drugs immediately after approval, Commissioner Martin Makary told the DIA 2025 Global Annual Meeting. He also wants to reduce development time with better communication and new approval pathways.

Elevidys Helps Sarepta To First US FDA Platform Technology Designation

 
• By Bridget Silverman

Sarepta's rAAVrh74 vector, used in the marketed Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy Elevidys and across the company's limb girdle muscular dystrophy pipeline, earned a platform designation as the lead LGMD candidate prepares for BLA filing.

US FDA Could Miss User Fee Spending Triggers With House FY 2026 Funding

 
• By Sarah Karlin-Smith and Derrick Gingery

FDA employees are concerned that while the budget authority total proposed for fiscal year 2026 meets the user fee appropriations' triggers, the FDA could have trouble meeting allocation triggers without cuts to non-review work.