Although FDA approvals in 2020 are falling just shy of records, the amount of regulatory news this year is more than twice the amount seen only four years ago and a 41% increase over that reported in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic accounts for roughly 14% of the total, but regardless, by all accounts, 2020 has been an excessively busy year for both the biopharma industry and regulatory agencies.
While the number of FDA approvals in 2020 are lockstep in line with last year, despite disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, the amount of regulatory news this year tracked by BioWorld has risen by 43% over 2019. Compared with 2018, it is 52% higher.
Tricida Inc. executives were not surprised when the FDA issued a complete response letter for veverimer to treat chronic metabolic acidosis. Despite an Aug. 22 PDUFA date, the company had received an FDA notification on July 16 that there were deficiencies that would preclude discussion of labeling and postmarketing requirements and commitments.
Recovering from a complete response letter (CRL) in 2018, Trevena Inc. resubmitted its NDA for oliceridine, branded Olinvyk. On Aug. 7, the drug received agency approval for managing moderate to severe acute pain in adults when the pain is severe enough to require an I.V. opioid and for patients whose alternative treatments are inadequate. The FDA has now approved a total of 34 new molecular entities (NMEs) so far this year. That total is well ahead of the 18 NMEs that were approved at this time in 2019 even though the FDA suggested back in May that it might have trouble meeting PDUFA dates due to the resources it needed to devote to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although PDUFA VI still has two years of life left to it, PDUFA VII is already in the birthing process, with the use of real-world data (RWD), AI, and a coming surge of novel cell and gene therapies looking to be prominent features of the next five-year user fee agreement. Politics likely will play a role as well.
As the FDA continues to shift its limited resources to the development and review of COVID-19 therapies and vaccines, other drugs in the pipeline may be delayed. In a question-and-answer guidance released late Tuesday, the agency acknowledged that, going forward, it may not be able to sustain its current performance level in meeting all its goal dates for new drugs and biologics.
