Pink Sheet Podcast: August User Fee Goals, Oncology Trial Design Issues, EMA Review Changes

Pink Sheet reporter and editors discuss the US FDA drug approval decisions that could arrive in August, a trial design issue that could ensnare BMS’ Opdivo along with AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi, and the EMA potentially asking all sponsors to provide raw clinical data as part of application reviews.

Pink Sheet podcast
Could EMA requiring raw clinical data for application reviews boost global harmonization efforts? • Source: Citeline/Shutterstock

Pink Sheet Executive Editor Derrick Gingery, Senior Writer Sarah Karlin-Smith, and Managing Editor Bridget Silverman discuss the bolus of applications that could receive US Food and Drug Administration action this month (:34), US Food and Drug Administration efforts to push oncology sponsors to change their trial design plans and how they could impact a proposed new indication for Bristol Myers Squibb Company’s Opdivo (nivolumab) and AstraZeneca PLC’s Imfinzi (durvalumab) (10:11), and the potential implications of the European Medicines Agency pilot program requiring sponsors to provide raw clinical data with applications for review (33:14).

Open Media

More On These Topics From The Pink Sheet

This and other podcasts are available on the Pink Sheetpodcast page, as well as the Citeline channel on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, TuneIn and Spotify Podcasts, and via smart speakers if one of these platforms has been set up as your default podcast provider.

More from Review Pathways

US HHS Deputy Nominee Talks AI, Not FDA, In Confirmation Hearing

 

Silicon Valley investor Jim O’Neill’s Senate confirmation hearings showcased the unique background of someone with government and tech experience and avoided discussions of his past statements about lowering the bar for regulatory approval.

What MAHA Means For US FDA: Prevention Is Not What You Think

 

US HHS Advisor Calley Means said new pathways for root-cause treatments are part of the HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vision for the FDA. But what most biopharma companies consider preventative medicines are not what he has in mind, nor does he seem to see those companies as part of the solution.

Pink Sheet Podcast: Vaccine Review Political Interference, Missed Deadlines A Harbinger Of US FDA Problems?

Pink Sheet reporter and editors discuss FDA Commissioner Martin Makary’s decision to have one of his assistants lead negotiations for Novavax’s delayed COVID-19 vaccine review, as well as some recent missed review deadlines, which may be the result of recent FDA cuts.

US FDA Not Industry’s ‘Sock Puppet,’ Ultragenyx’s Emil Kakkis Says

 
• By 

The biotech CEO said the Trump Administration’s treatment of FDA employees, including the HHS secretary’s comments about industry capture, are insulting to agency staff, but he is encouraged by FDA Commissioner Martin Makary’s talk of a new conditional approval pathway.

More from Pathways & Standards

US FDA Advisory Committee Misperceptions Abound … At HHS

 

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. regularly decries the “conflicts of interest” he believes abound in advisory committees, but his concerns, as well as a recent “policy directive” eliminating industry representatives, seem driven by a misunderstanding of the panels’ jobs.

US FDA’s Expanded Surprise Foreign Inspections: Impact And Enforcement Hoops

 

As the US FDA expands unannounced foreign inspections building on pilots in India and China, experts expect higher scrutiny of overseas sites and perhaps even an industry shakeout in the longer term, though staffing and enforcement challenges could slow things down.

US FDA Guidance Roadblock: Writing Continues, But Publication Has Slowed Or Stopped

 

Cuts to the FDA’s policy and legal personnel have prevented dozens of product-specific guidances for generic drug development from being published.