If the United Kingdom’s plan to exit the European Union evokes thoughts of a perilous road of steep grades and switchbacks, you’re pretty well attuned to the politically and commercially fraught process known as Brexit. More than two years after British voters elected to split from the EU, it often seems more questions than answers...
In May 2012, the leaders of 30 medicine regulatory bodies from around the world gathered at the 65th World Health Assembly in Geneva, collectively puzzling over how to improve cooperation among them. Their answer came later that year: form the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA), a voluntary group of Heads of Agency (HoA)...
Over the past few years, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of genetically modified cells for cancer immunotherapy, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells, recombinant T-cell receptor T cells and genetically modified CD34+ cells for the treatment of hematological malignancies. Clinical trials of immuno-gene therapeutics are becoming increasingly common, and regulatory guidelines...
Days before Christmas 2017, a nationwide call went out requesting nominations of patients and caregivers to join a new public/private-sponsored Patient Engagement Collaborative. Among the promised duties for this yet-to-be-filled body of 16 patient community representatives: Propose new collaboration models in which patients and patient advocates are partners in healthcare product development and U.S. Food...
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...