Fast-tracking drugs isn’t as helpful as it sounds
In the US four rapid approval processes have been set up to benefit patients, but the real winners seem to be Big Pharma
Sometimes things done with the very best intentions can lead to harms. Rapid approval of cancer drugs in the US appears to be a good example.
Since 1992, the Food and Drug Administration has instigated four programs to speed up drug approval: Priority Review, Accelerated Approval, Fast Track, and Breakthrough Therapy.
While not specifically for cancer therapies, drug sponsors often use one or more of these pathways to expedite the delivery of new agents to the marketplace.
Cancer – being a group of so many diseases affecting almost all organs and killing 30% of the population – inevitably touches many of us.
