Califf: Sponsors Should Go Beyond Letter Of Law With Trial Diversity Plans

 

The FDA Commissioner wants sponsors to incorporate diversity into their development programs prior to Phase III.

EU Regulators Eye Social Media For Real-World Data Insights

 
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As drug companies continue to explore the use of social media data to support their submissions, a panel of EU regulators have drawn up a seven-point action plan to help evaluate the usefulness and impact of such data in regulatory decision-making.

Dose Optimization And Rare Diseases: Doing More With Less

 

US FDA officials said dose optimization for rare diseases should not be sacrificed in the name of speeding access to medicines, but is the oncology approach spreading to rare diseases?

ICH Embraces Innovation In Clinical Trial Design

 
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The International Council for Harmonisation has issued for comment draft guidance, which when finalized, is expected to provide the industry with flexibility to embrace non-traditional, innovative approaches in clinical trial design.


EMA: Regulatory Decisions On Pediatric Cancer Drugs ‘Cannot Happen In Isolation’

 

Stakeholders must work together to “identify the most promising products based on evidence” to treat childhood cancers, as drugs developed for adults do not always work, the scientific officer for the pediatric medicines office at the European Medicines Agency says.

Japan Adopts Early Approval Scheme For Infectious Disease Drugs

 
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Japan has implemented a streamlined regulatory system designed to enable speedier approvals of selected drugs for designated categories of infectious diseases, which does not require Japanese clinical data.

Korea Can Play To Strengths But Also Improve Regulatory Flexibility For Clinical Trials

 
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A session at the recent KoNECT conference in Seoul looked at Korea’s strengths in clinical trials but also at what's needed to further improve its global competitiveness as a location for studies.

Chinese Regulator Raises Red Flag On Clinical Trial Bribery

 

China has proposed new guidelines designed to head off potential bribery by pharma companies related to the conduct of clinical studies and possible manipulation of outcomes.


UK Toolkit To Accelerate Research Set-Up Across England, NI, Scotland And Wales

 

The Health Research Authority says its new toolkit explains the differences and similarities in the research approval and set-up processes across the four UK nations so that researchers and sponsors are clear on what they need to do if they want to conduct a study in more than one of the countries.

Informed Consent Should Address Standard Of Care Risks, US FDA’s Califf Says

 

US FDA Commissioner Robert Califf offers some thoughts on improving the informed consent process during a Patient Engagement Advisory Committee meeting that reflect concerns informed consent documents are too long and complex, but also do not address everything that may be important to patients.

ACCESS Consortium Exploring Clinical Trials Collaboration & Reliance, Says UK MHRA

 

The UK’s drug regulator, the MHRA, is exploring new opportunities to work closer with its counterparts from Australia, Canada, Singapore and Switzerland under the ACCESS Consortium group, with a focus on pre-submission scientific advice.

New Swiss Clinical Trial Framework Takes Effect With Updated Reporting Rules

 
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Transitional provisions have been put in place to ensure the smooth implementation of new trial rules and requirements in Switzerland.


UK Pushes For Early Use Of Enhanced GDPR Transparency Template

 
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The UK’s Health Research Authority has updated its General Data Protection Regulation “transparency wording template” with more information on how data about research participants would be handled if it is sent abroad.

EU Needs ‘Agile & Enabling Ecosystem’ To Address Decline In Clinical Trials

 
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The EU Clinical Trials Regulation has “so far failed to improve Europe’s competitiveness,” according to a new report commissioned by the pharmaceutical industry body EFPIA.

US FDA ‘Thinking Deeply’ On ‘Digital Twins’ As Placebo Control, But OCE Not Quite Ready To Embrace It

 
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Oncology staff also said more work is needed before patient registries can be used as an external control in clinical trials, but they strongly encouraged continued investment.

EU Extends Pilot On Using Raw Data In Medicines Reviews ‘Until Further Notice’

 

EU regulators have recommended extending a pilot on the use of raw clinical trial data in medicines evaluations after an interim review of the initiative found that using such data improved regulatory decision-making.


After Ocaliva: US FDA Sees Breakthrough Potential In New Approaches To Liver Disease

 

New nods for Boehringer Ingelheim’s survodutide, Sagimet’s denifanstat and Mirum’s volixibat bring the FDA’s non-infectious liver disease breakthrough therapy designations to 15, with six designees already approved.

India Rare Diseases: Court Shows Path For Policy Action, Funding, Price Issues

 

A court order encompassing funding, drug pricing, clinical trials and overall policy implementation aspects is expected to cause a paradigm shift in the treatment of rare diseases in India. Sarepta, Roche and Sanofi are among the companies that have been part of pricing discussions.

US FDA’s Pazdur On When And Why US Patients Must Satisfy Trial Diversity Requirements

 

Flexibility on the geographic location of clinical trial participants will depend on the underlying reasons the FDA wants diversity in the study, the agency’s Oncology Center of Excellence Director said.

New UK Clinical Trials Regulation Expected To Apply From January 2026

 

Sponsors can expect to see a copy of final guidance on how to comply with the UK’s new clinical trials regulation in August 2025, while the new framework is set to apply from January 2026.