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This year marks the tenth anniversary of the TREAT-NMD Advisory Committee for Therapeutics (TACT), a group of multidisciplinary experts that evaluates drug development programmes for rare neuromuscular diseases and identifies pitfalls. Here, we discuss the experience with TACT based on its reviews of more than 50 applications and its potential as a model for other rare disorders.
Cloud-based systems for data submitted by sponsors to drug regulatory agencies have the potential to accelerate drug development, streamline regulatory review and enhance regulatory decision-making. Here, we provide a vision for integrating cloud-enabled practices in drug regulation globally.
A lack of robust knowledge of the number of rare diseases and the number of people affected by them limits the development of approaches to ameliorate the substantial cumulative burden of rare diseases. Here, we call for coordinated efforts to more precisely define rare diseases.
The European Medicines Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration have committed to engaging patients in their regulatory processes to promote patient-focused medicinal product development, as well as improve transparency and trust in the regulatory system. Here, we highlight exchanges of experience between the agencies and some impacts on patient engagement.
Lack of financial and human capital continues to hinder the development of successful biotechnology hubs. Venture philanthropy could be an important part of the solution.
Real-world evidence is increasingly valued by regulators and payers. Central to this evidence base is patient-reported outcome data describing the impact of drugs on quality of life, daily activities and symptoms. Here, we highlight key challenges with current real-world, patient-reported outcome data and describe collaborative next steps for international stakeholders to overcome these issues.
It is increasingly important that regulatory agencies catalyse the translation of scientific and technological innovation into improved patient-centred health care. Here, we highlight the strategic goals of the European Medicines Agency to advance regulatory science and optimize the opportunities arising in areas such as cell and gene therapies, big data and artificial intelligence.
One aspect of the ongoing debate about drug pricing is the added therapeutic benefit of new drugs compared with existing — and potentially cheaper — therapies. Here, we discuss the merits and pitfalls of proposals that are being discussed with regard to the role of regulatory agencies in establishing added therapeutic benefit.
The Biomarkers Consortium aims to facilitate drug development with biomarkers across a range of diseases. Here, we briefly highlight its accomplishments so far and its recent expansion in scope to include related tools along the lines of the Biomarkers, EndpointS and other Tools (BEST) resource, such as patient-reported outcomes and clinical outcome assessments.
