Dietary Supplements for Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer?

An analysis conducted by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) found that dietary supplements are not effective in preventing or reducing the incidence of cardiovascular disease and cancer, and that supplements rich in beta carotene are indeed more harmful than beneficial. These conclusions, based on the pooled analysis of published clinical trial results, raise … Read more

FDA Releases an Updated List of Approved Drugs with No Generics

Since the infamous case of Daraprim price gouging in 2015 where a drug company bought the rights to a drug with no generics and raised the price by 5000% overnight due to its monopoly, FDA has been publishing a list of approved drugs with no patent protection and no generic versions to encourage the industry … Read more

Is FDA In a Bind With the Canadian Approval for the ALS drug?

This week Amylyx’s ALS drug was approved by the Canadian regulators raising speculations that this would make it very hard for FDA to reject this drug despite the negative vote by the FDA’s Advisory Committee which based its recommendation on the underwhelming clinical trial data from the one pivotal trial conducted by the company. But … Read more

FDA Will Allow EUA Data To be Reused for Full Approval

In the last two and half years, FDA has approved hundreds of EUAs for various products for the diagnosis, management, and treatment of Covid-19. However, EUAs are temporary permits to sell products which ends when the emergency is declared to be over, i.e., the emergency declaration is withdrawn. An appropriate market approval (510k, PMA, NDA … Read more

The Speed of Covid Vaccine Development is an Exception, Not the New Norm 

It took about 11 months from the beginning of the world-wide spread of Covid-19, in Jan 2020, to getting available an exceptionally effective vaccine to it. But this breakneck speed of development is an exception and should not be expected to be repeated for all other diseases and infections. The conventional wisdom of needing about … Read more

FDA and EMA Inspectors Found Similar Issues at GCP Inspections

A report on inspectional findings during GCP audits by FDA and EMA inspectors found that both regulators found similar issues 9 out of 10 times. The findings of this report, published jointly by the FDA and EMA, support sharing of audit findings between the two agencies to reduce the burden of direct inspections for both. … Read more

What Does “FDA Approved” Mean, and Who Can Use This Phrase? 

The phrase “FDA Approved” is used on the labels of many products, in many cases falsely to mislead the consumers’ perception of the quality of a given product. FDA released a consumer advisory last week to list, in plain language, the regulatory processes for all the products in regulates which should be widely used to … Read more

From GMP to “EMP”: FDA to Create a Reward System for Manufacturers  

When manufacturers of pharmaceutical products rise above the minimum GMP standards, they should be rewarded with fewer FDA audits, higher prices for their products, and strong support from clinical stakeholders, according to a White Paper from FDA this week. FDA believes that such manufacturers will also reduce the likelihood of supply disruptions and shortages. The … Read more

What Does “FDA Approved” Mean, and Who Can Use This Phrase? 

The phrase “FDA Approved” is used on the labels of many products, in many cases falsely to mislead the consumers’ perception of the quality of a given product. FDA released a consumer advisory last week to list, in plain language, the regulatory processes for all the products in regulates which should be widely used to … Read more