In a Pink Sheet interview Emil Kakkis contends the agency’s recruitment challenges, high turnover rates and a lack of expertise on the diseases for which reviewers are evaluating drugs have created a disconnect between FDA leadership’s stated willingness to permit accelerated approval for gene therapy and what review divisions are doing on the ground.
Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. CEO Emil Kakkis worries there is a disconnect between the statements of senior US Food and Drug Administration leadership supporting the use of accelerated approval for gene therapy, and the actions of the reviewers charged with handling particular applications.
“Peter Marks, has been a very positive proponent of [accelerated approval]
The UK has issued clearer guidance to help drug and medical device sponsors demonstrate how they intend to include a diverse and relevant range of participants in their clinical trials.
Companies that use the European Medicines Agency as a reference regulator for the UK’s International Recognition Procedure can expect a faster approval than those that use other national regulators, such as those in the US and Canada, an MHRA spokesperson has said.
At a House subcommittee hearing, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. rebutted lawmaker concerns that NIH cuts will drive research and scientists to other countries and said he does not want to advise parents on vaccinating children for measles, chickenpox or polio.
