RE:RE:RE:RE:How does Accelerated Approval work Fast Track and Acceleratred Approval Pathways:
The FDA Modernization Act of 1997 established the Fast Track designation to expedite developing and reviewing new drugs designed to fill unmet medical needs and treat serious conditions.
The FDA Fast Track process features regular interactions with the FDA, including the potential for early and rolling review processes and the implementation of clinical trials.
The Accelerated Approval pathway allows drugs for serious conditions to be approved earlier, provided they provide a meaningful advantage over current treatments and therapies.
This pathway also allows the approval of drugs that fill a key treatment gap, using surrogate endpoints to predict clinical benefit. In these cases, drugs can be approved while confirmatory trials remain ongoing.
The Accelerated Approval pathway has brought a range of pioneering therapies in oncology and infectious diseases to market.
Accepting surrogate endpoints as a basis for approval demonstrates that the FDA recognizes the importance of balancing benefit and risk in cases where waiting for traditional endpoints could cause considerable harm to patients.
The FDA Fast Track and Accelerated Approval pathways have major implications for the wider healthcare landscape beyond drug development.
Confirmatory trials in the case of Accelerated Approval confirm that the drug continues to offer the anticipated clinical benefit observed in the Phase 2 stage of development.