| |

Unlocking the Potential of Digital Health Therapeutics: FDA-Approved Solutions for Modern Healthcare

ByJackie Orabone

Digital health therapeutics (DTx), applications increasingly powered by AI and/or machine learning, are on the rise and promise to increase access to healthcare, provide real-time monitoring of health data, improve patient engagement and adherence to treatment, and reduce healthcare costs. What Are Digital Health Therapeutics? DTx are evidence-based therapeutic interventions driven by software and technology…

| | |

From Pilot to Policy: The FDA’s Rapid March Toward AI-Powered Drug Reviews

ByAaron Csicseri

When FDA reviewers discovered that a generative-AI pilot could slash a 3-day document review task to mere minutes—a time-savings of 99%!—it became clear that artificial intelligence is no longer an aspirational tool but a present-day catalyst for regulatory transformation. That single statistic captures why FDA is fast-tracking AI: the volume and complexity of regulatory submissions…

| |

The Not-So-Far-Out Therapeutic Promise of Psychedelics

ByAaron Csicseri

Introduction Throughout history, humans have had a complex relationship with psychedelics. For millennia, ancient indigenous cultures used them for spiritual and healing purposes. For example, in 2007, archaeologists in Spain discovered mushrooms found at a burial site dated more than 7,000 years old. The mushrooms found at the site were identified as psilocybin, a type…

| |

FDA Decision for Sarepta’s Gene Therapy for DMD Sets New Regulatory Precedent

ByAngela Corona

Historic Regulatory Decision for First FDA-Approved Gene Therapy for DMD On June 22, 2023, in a-much anticipated decision, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval for Elevidys (also known as SRP-9001), Sarepta’s one-time gene therapy for ambulatory children with Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy (DMD). However, the accelerated approval was limited to the…

| |

Communicating the Complexities of Subgroup Analyses at an AdCom

ByAaron Csicseri

Within clinical trials, exploratory or post-hoc subgroup analyses are widely recognized as only “hypothesis generating” due to their high potential for bias and/or misleading interpretation. This is the main reason why Sponsors cannot make efficacy claims or seek regulatory approval based on evidence of efficacy in a certain subgroup unless that benefit is consistent with…

| |

Quick Snips: CRISPR

ByJackie Orabone

CRISPR is a powerful gene-editing tool that enables targeted therapeutic gene editing, with clinical applications for improving treatment of inherited and/or rare genetic diseases, viral infections, and arresting the progression of cancer. CRISPR gene-editing technology has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of rare genetic disorders, with the first product poised for FDA approval in…

Pitfalls of Accelerated Approval: What Happens When Confirmatory Trials Fail?

ByAngela Corona

The accelerated approval (AA) pathway was introduced in 1992 (in response to the AIDS epidemic) to shorten the FDA approval process for drugs to treat serious or life-threatening diseases or rare diseases where there is a high unmet medical need. AA allows for drugs to be approved on the basis of surrogate endpoints that are…

Surrogate Endpoints for Accelerated Approval

ByAaron Csicseri

Surrogate endpoints have been used for accelerated approval (AA) since the early 1990s, playing a vital role in getting therapies for serious conditions to patients sooner. The AA pathway was first created in 1992 to accelerate the approval of drugs intended to treat “serious conditions that fill an unmet medical need.” In the intervening 30+…