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When Abbreviated May Not Mean Faster or Easier

FDA is working on an approval pathway for bio-similars, re-examining the way medical devices are reviewed, trying to upgrade the quality and speed of generic drug reviews and will soon be evaluating its process for granting accelerated approvals to drugs.

These seemingly unconnected activities all have in common that they are supposed to be abbreviated processes to get new products to patients more quickly without risking safety or quality problems. FDA Matters thinks FDA should articulate its philosophy about how these short-cuts should work and what standards apply in all instances.

There is a constant tension between going faster and going slower in making any approval decision. No matter what it does, the agency will be criticized by somebody who thinks they should have waited longer or acted more quickly. The four abbreviated processes seem to bring particular problems because they challenge regulators to balance safety vs. risk and faster vs. slower. In addition, they tend to heighten the distance between companies that are winners and losers.

There is constant tumult around generic drugs. Is proving bio-equivalence really enough to prove two drugs will work the same and thus speed market availability of the generic? Given the relative ease of a generic approval, why does the Office of Generic Drugs have a large and ever-growing backlog?

Likewise, there are always questions about the medical device review process. In particular, the 510(k) approval process is never without skeptics. Many would like all complex devices to meet standards similar to drug approvals. Others point to the quicker pace of innovation and the more incremental nature of new devices as reasons to reserve more elaborate reviews for the most complex and groundbreaking devices.

FDA is currently deciding how to implement the newly created bio-similar pathway. Many (this author included) have suggested that many products for which this abbreviated process was designed will find it advantageous to use the traditional approval route. Surely, this is not why new approval paths are created.

Accelerated approval allows drugs for significant unmet medical needs, primarily life-threatening diseases, to gain market access while further clinical testing is underway. It is not often used (nor should it), but in special cases it allows patients and their physicians to make their own judgments about the risk of the drug relative to the potential benefit. This process is likely to be reviewed now that a drug with accelerated approval proved unsuccessful in further testing.

FDA should always be looking to create greater predictability in its actions. Abbreviated processes hold the potential to benefit patients, increase access, lower costs, and promote innovation. The actual mix of FDA actions more often obscures this, leaving abbreviated pathways to look like an industry battleground rather than a reasoned way to maximize public good.

I envision FDA guidelines on abbreviated pathways that will tell agency employees, patients and industry about appropriate expectations, conditions for use of pathways, levels of proof, and avenues for appeals or to provide greater clarification.

Without this larger FDA view, we will have more of the same: abbreviated approval processes that are often not faster or easier….nor in the public interst.

Steven

For those readers still thinking about this month’s Avandia advisory committee, which featured a sharply divided FDA, this recent column may be useful:

Dissent and Efficiency: Difficult Trade-offs for FDA
May 9th, 2010

FDA has a reputation for being tough on dissent, whether it comes from employees or regulated companies. It is often alleged that FDA employees with contrary views are re-assigned, marginalized or ousted. Within the regulated industries, there is a widespread belief that arguing with FDA has adverse consequences for a company.

Whatever the truth has been in the past, FDA is trying to develop an institutional cultural that welcomes and accepts dissent from employees, industry and other stakeholders. It is difficult, even messy, to do this. Yet, FDA’s reputation and authority rests on showing that it listened to all competing views–without unreasonably slowing the decisionmaking process. Read the rest of this entry »

One Response to “When Abbreviated May Not Mean Faster or Easier”

  1. Based on e-mails this morning, there is a lot of interest in accelerated approvals. One reader pointed out that the FDA has faced failed results twice in a short period of time. The first drug was withdrawn by Pfizer. The second (the one I was referencing) faced an advisory committee last week and the panel recommended that FDA withdraw approval for a specific indication of the drug. The Roche drug, Avastin, is already marketed for indications that were approved through regular, not abbreviated, process. At stake is this additional indication that was approved via the accelerated approval process. To my knowledge, FDA has not announced any review of the policies and processes associated with accelerated approval, but I stand by my prediction that this will happen soon.

    For a good background, I recommend this article from PharmaLot, which provides excellent daily coverage of FDA and industry activities: http://www.pharmalot.com/2010/07/fda-panel-votes-down-avastin-for-breast-cancer/

    For a glimpse of some of the heat being generated by this issue, I suggest this editorial from today’s NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/opinion/26mon1.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

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