Unlike prior plans, the FDA’s new substance abuse framework is intended to deal with stimulant and benzodiazepine use disorders, in addition to opioid abuse.
The US Food and Drug Administration felt it needed to issue its third drug abuse plan in six years because it was important to address more than just opioids.
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Lowell Zeta, a senior counselor at the FDA from 2020 to 2021, returns as deputy commissioner for strategic initiatives. The agency also names a new acting CIO and acting CVM director, but OGD's Ted Sherwood and OPDP's Catherine Gray retired.
Ascertaining the novelty and benefits of Makary’s new drug approval idea – along with what it would take to implement it – requires more clarity on the types of studies he envisions being used to grant and confirm “plausible mechanism’ approvals.
In discussing FDA’s adverse event monitoring, Makary also seemed to falsely imply the agency did not fully investigate the myocarditis signal with COVID-19 vaccines.
The preliminary White House 2026 budget plan cuts agency funding, but not so sharply that user fees are excluded from collection.
Tracy Beth Høeg, who is reportedly re-examining Novavax’s COVID vaccine application, is the FDA rep at the CDC panel’s first meeting under the Trump Administration. She raised concerns about routine use of Jynneos for adolescents at risk of mpox and questioned how Moderna assessed efficacy of its COVID vaccines.
Plan to reorganize the agency into five offices was designed by someone who does not understand the FDA, former long-time agency official Janet Woodcock says. The proposal would eliminate highly specialized expertise in favor of “a big team of generalists,” former Principal Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein says.
Industry should be more vocal about the harms the recent reduction-in-force will have on getting drugs to market, NTEU Chapter 282 President Anthony Lee said in an interview with Pink Sheet.
