Advanced Technologies

US FDA Commissioner nominee Martin Makary is being embraced by industry, and Senate Democrats, as a more traditional pick than other Trump Administration nominees, but the Make America Healthy Again agenda still is clearly coming to the agency.

The exact number of layoffs at the FDA as part of the Trump Administration’s pledge to shrink the federal government is unclear, but the most came from the agency’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

Pharmaceutical companies in the EU have until August to ensure their staff have an adequate level of artificial intelligence literacy in line with new obligations set by the AI Act this month.

The former Oracle executive spent two years in the post, following founding director Bakul Patel, and is another high-level resignation from the agency as the Trump transition continues.

Legal heavyweights from Nishith Desai Associates, Anand and Anand, Corporate Law Group and EY partner and national cyber leader talk about compliance requirements that pharma and global capability centers may need to consider as India strengthens the framework for the protection of digital personal data.

Sara Brenner has been a key figure in the FDA’s diagnostics team, but her choice as acting FDA commissioner likely has more to do with her background with advanced technology and comfort level with the tech-focused side of the Trump transition team.

The Council of the EU has formally adopted the European Health Data Space regulation, meaning that it will soon enter into force in the EU. Experts explain what this means for the pharmaceutical industry.

mHealth data generated by smartphones and wearables show potential for enhancing the clinical evidence used in regulatory decision-making, but there are “notable challenges” that may hinder the use of such data, EU regulators say.

A risk-based approach to human cell therapies and tissue-based products could incentivize development and prevent bad actors from taking advantage of the current FDA system.

Experts working in the advanced therapy space say the US has less strict criteria for regulatory pathways for cell and gene therapies than the EU, particularly for products in early development.

Not all companies will be able to access joint scientific consultations under the EU Health Technology Assessment Regulation, but success is still possible for those that engage with national agencies early on, says EUCOPE’s Alexander Natz.

Payers and health technology assessment bodies in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy are either unwilling to use real-world data in assessments or cannot due to their existing frameworks, say representatives from Gilead Sciences and Autolus Therapeutics.

The UK’s drug regulator is developing a “clear and streamlined” regulatory pathway for individualized cancer mRNA immunotherapies.

mHealth data generated by smartphones and wearables show potential for enhancing the clinical evidence used in regulatory decision-making, but there are “notable challenges” that may hinder the use of such data, EU regulators say.

Many platform designation requests have been from sponsors eager to cite other sponsors’ products, but CBER Director Peter Marks said in an interview with the Pink Sheet his office likely is years away from accepting those applications.

CBER Director Peter Marks outlines a streamlined process to approval for treating different mutations of the same gene. NCATS’ Philip Brooks tells the Pink Sheet the approach avoids the need to “start from scratch for every new mutation.”