Policy

An unnamed FDA official also told reporters that it would be good for Moderna to “show some humility” and admit that it didn’t follow the regulator’s recommendations in testing its mRNA flu vaccine.
FEATURED STORIES
Bristol Myers Squibb, GSK and Merck are contributing drug ingredients as part of their deals with the White House but are keeping many of the terms of their agreements private.
Some 200 rare disease therapies are at risk of losing eligibility for a pediatric priority review voucher, a recent analysis by the Rare Disease Company Coalition shows. That could mean $4 billion in missed revenue for already cash-strapped biotechs.
The FDA’s rare pediatric disease priority review voucher program missed reauthorization at the last minute in 2024; advocates have been fighting to get it back ever since.
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A coordinated national effort is emerging to bring alternatives to animal testing into routine preclinical use, backed by a fresh FDA roadmap and a global coalition of scientific and industry partners. 
The record-setting government shutdown was just the latest blow to the U.S. biopharma industry. When science funding becomes a casualty of political gridlock, we lose valuable talent, erode public trust and jeopardize our position as a global leader in innovation.
Alicia Jackson formerly served as deputy director of the Biological Technologies Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
FDA
A spokesperson for the FDA said the agency is “considering a wide range of options to support American innovation.”
Top Trump administration officials have taken issue with Marty Makary’s management style, pointing to infighting between his appointees and the difficulty to get a hold of the FDA commissioner.
Representatives from companies such as Sanofi and Forge Biologics point to the potential for PreCheck to drive activation of idle production capacity and help companies that are already building plants.
Following restricted vaccine approvals and changes to CDC immunization schedules, Merck, Pfizer, GSK and Sanofi are all suffering revenue hits to their vaccine programs.
The upheaval of the Health and Human Services workforce and leadership leaves much to be desired in terms of delivery, recently retired FDA Chief Information Officer Vid Desai tells BioSpace, but the regulatory agency is evolving to be more open to much needed change.
According to reporting from Reuters, reviewers at the agency pointed to an inability to differentiate from placebo to justify rejecting the drug, but an FDA office director approved the drug anyway.
Having seen Congress spend money to onshore semiconductor production, pharma groups are pushing for similar incentives for domestic drug manufacturing.