Medical and Regulatory Affairs

8 Programs That Get Rare Cancer Treatments to Patients Faster

A variety of factors can make it difficult to conduct traditional full-scale clinical trials for new treatments of rare cancers. Consequently, because so little information is available, treatments for rare oncology patients are inadequate or nonexistent. Luckily for both patients and researchers, the FDA and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have introduced regulations that expedite review and approval of certain investigative drugs. Expedited FDA...

Life Science Leader – Orphan Drug Incentives & Innovations On The Rise

The year 2015 was a productive one for introduction of drugs that target rare diseases. U.S. regulators approved 21 new orphan drugs, a 40 percent increase from the previous year. European regulators approved a record 18 orphan compounds, a small increase over 2014. Any progress is a good thing, but these advances pale when weighed...

Navigating Regulatory Pathways to Address Unmet Medical Needs

It would be hard to overstate the need for new therapies that target unmet medical needs, especially in rare disease. After all, there are only about 400 approved “orphan drugs,” meaning that 95 percent of rare diseases lack a single approved treatment. Now the good news: U.S. and European regulators, recognizing the size and severity...

Working with a CRO

The challenges of greater regulatory scrutiny, complex logistics, downward cost pressure and increasingly rigorous data requirements are just a few of the reasons biotech and pharmaceutical companies look to outsource clinical trials. In a dynamic healthcare and regulatory environment, outsourcing increases flexibility by streamlining clinical trial management and enabling sponsors to concentrate their resources on...

Premier Insight 268: When Other CROs Said No, We Said Yes – to the Nearly Impossible

The client asked the nearly impossible — a task so daunting that two other CROs had simply said “no, thanks.” Completing a new drug application typically takes a year to a year and a half, but the time available here was six months. And the short timeline was only the half of it. So we...

Premier Insight 263: The Case of the Elusive Protocol

A customer asked us to do a chart review of patients with hypophosphatasia, an extremely rare metabolic bone disease with a live birth incidence of about one in 100,000. The perinatal variant is rapidly fatal. A proliferation of protocols Initially informed consent was required if local regulatory authorities and/or IRBs required it. Then the Premier...

Premier Research Expands Certification Under ISO Standard for Medical Device and Diagnostics

On Monday, June 30, 2014, Premier Research expanded its ISO certification as a provider of strategic and regulatory consulting, clinical development, and post-marketing surveillance services to manufacturers of medical devices and diagnostics. This certification includes ISO 9001:2008 and aspects of ISO 13485:2003, the key quality management standards required by international regulatory authorities and—therefore—by Premier’s customers.

Premier Research Announces Adoption of eTMF System

Premier Research announced today that it will use a new electronic Trial Master File (eTMF) system on all Clinical Development Services Studies. Trial Interactive has been tapped to provide the supporting platform. The adoption of eTMF is the company’s latest investment in its 2012-2013 technology RoadMap focused on three key areas ...

Premier Research Survey Finds Many Sponsors Ignore Pediatric Requirements for Clinical Trials

The Pediatric Research Equity Act (PREA)—requiring drug makers to test all drugs for safety and efficacy in pediatric populations as well as in adults—was passed in 2003 and updated in 2007. And in Europe, a similar requirement has been in effect since 2007.

New Survey Reveals Companies’ Concerns About Too Few Pediatric Patients for Clinical Trials Premier Research’s Survey Also Reveals Confusion About PREA and Its EU Counterpart

A new biopharma survey of 55 biotech and pharmaceutical firms in both the North America and European markets by Premier Research reveals that the biggest problem those companies are facing in complying with pediatric regulations is that there may not be enough children who are both accessible and can meet often stringent study criteria to participate in the required clinical trials.

Medical and Regulatory Affairs