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For Lilly’s Donanemab, US FDA Commissioner Is Already Thinking About Post-Market Questions

 
• By Sarah Karlin-Smith

From positive topline data to Robert Califf weighing in on the right patient population to treat with the Alzheimer’s candidate in less than a day, the drug rejected by the agency for accelerated approval earlier this year looks to make a quick comeback.

rising sun Alzheimer's
Lilly's donanemab data prompted Califf to discuss the dawning of a new era in Alzheimer's treatments. • Source: Nielsen Hobbs; the Pink Sheet | Shutterstock images

Just hours after Eli Lilly and Company released positive Phase III data for its anti-amyloid Alzheimer’s treatment donanemab on 3 May, US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf was discussing his vision for a new kind of post-market data collection system that could help better pinpoint the people who should be treated with the drug.

It’s unusual for anyone at FDA to be publicly commenting on a drug under development, never mind the commissioner. And it’s particularly interesting given the high-profile and at times controversial...

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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.

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.

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.

US FDA Meeting Drought Ends … With A Vengeance

 
• By Michael McCaughan

The first 100 days of the Trump Administration were notable for an extraordinary decline in the number of public meetings hosted by the US Food and Drug Administration. But the schedule changed quickly.

More from Agency Leadership

US FDA Meeting Drought Ends … With A Vengeance

 
• By Michael McCaughan

The first 100 days of the Trump Administration were notable for an extraordinary decline in the number of public meetings hosted by the US Food and Drug Administration. But the schedule changed quickly.

EMA Says Digital Transformation A ‘Fundamental Shift’ In Meeting Regulatory Challenges

 
• By Eliza Slawther

Sponsors can expect faster evaluation processes for key medicines and greater support in mitigating medicines supply shortages this year as part of the European Medicines Agency’s digital transformation overhaul.

US FDA Makary’s Pharma CEO Tour Goes Against Transparency Rhetoric

 
• By Sarah Karlin-Smith

FDA Commissioner Martin Makary will give industry a new avenue for access and influence despite his and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claims that the pharma-FDA relationship is too cozy.