Established by the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act of 2012, breakthrough therapy designation (BTD) is one of several programs developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to speed up the development and review of drugs and biologics that address unmet medical needs. In order to qualify for this designation, the treatment must address a serious or life-threatening illness. In addition, the manufacturer (i.e., sponsor) must provide early clinical evidence that the treatment is a substantial improvement over currently available therapies. The FDA is working to further clarify how it applies the qualifying criteria to breakthrough designation applications.
On April 24, under a cooperative agreement with FDA, the Center for Health Policy convened a public meeting to discuss the qualifying criteria for this special designation. Using examples from oncology, neurology, psychiatry, and hematology, the workshop highlighted considerations for the BTD application process, the evaluation process, and factors for acceptance or rejection. The discussion also focused on key strategies for ensuring that the qualifying criteria are understood across a broad range of stakeholder groups.
Applying the breakthrough therapy criteria: Oncology
Applying the breakthrough therapy criteria: Neurology
Applying the breakthrough therapy criteria: Anti-infective/psychiatry/hematology
Summary and discussion of lessons learned
Agenda
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April 24
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FDA opening remarks
9:00 am - 9:15 am
Richard Moscicki Deputy Center Director for Science Operations, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research - U.S. Food and Drug Administration -
Breakthrough therapy designation: Two and a half years in
9:15 am - 10:15 am
Ryan Conrad Economist - U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationAfi Harrington Operations Research Analyst - U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationGrace Stark Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Fellow - U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationKim Taylor Operations Research Analyst - U.S. Food and Drug Administration -
Applying the breakthrough therapy criteria: Oncology
10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Jennie Chang Medical Officer, Division of Oncology Products II - U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationGeorge Demetri Professor of Medicine; Harvard Medical School - Director, Ludwig Center at Harvard; Senior VP for Experimental Therapeutics, Dana-Farber Cancer InstituteDickran Kazandjian Medical Officer, Division of Oncology Products II - U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationDavid Kerstein Medical Director, Clinical Research and Development - Ariad PharmaceuticalsRichard Moscicki Deputy Center Director for Science Operations, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research - U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationEric Rubin Deputy Assistant Secretary, European and Eurasian Affairs - U.S. State DepartmentEllen Sigal Chairperson and Founder - Friends of Cancer ResearchMarc Theoret Clinical Team Lead, Division of Oncology Products II - U.S. Food and Drug Administration -
Applying the breakthrough therapy criteria: Neurology
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Maria Carrillo Chief Science Officer, Medical & Scientific Relations - Alzheimer's AssociationRonald Farkas Clinical Team Leader, Division of Neurology Products - U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationRobert Kowalski Senior Vice President, Global Head of Drug Regulatory Affairs and U.S. Head of Development - NovartisRajesh Ranganathan Director, Office of Translational Research - National Institute for Neurological Disorders and StrokeRobert Temple Deputy Director for Clinical Science, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research - U.S. Food and Drug Administration -
Applying the breakthrough therapy criteria: Anti-infective/psychiatry/hematology
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
John Alexander Clinical Team Lead, Division of Anti-Infective Products - U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationAnne-Virginie Eggimann Vice President, Regulatory Science - Bluebird BioDavid Fajgenbaum Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology; University of Pennsylvania - Co-Founder and Executive Director; Castleman Disease Collaborative NetworkAndrew Gustafson Senior Director, U.S. Regulatory Policy and Advocacy - GlaxoSmithKline plcIlan Irony Chief, General Medicine Branch, Office of Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies - U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationJohn Jenkins Director, Office of New Drugs - U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationLucas Kempf Clinical Team Lead, Division of Psychiatric Products - U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationJohn Powers Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine; George Washington University School of Medicine - Senior Medical Scientist; Leidos Biomedical ResearchEmil Tsai Professor, Department of Psychiatry; Harbor-UCLA Medical Center - Chief Science Officer; SyneuRx International (Taiwan) Corporation -
Summary and discussion of lessons learned
3:45 pm - 4:30 pm
Jeff Allen Executive Director - Friends of Cancer ResearchKarin Van Baelen Head of Global Regulatory Affairs - Janssen PharmaceuticalsGerald Dal Pan Director, Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology - U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationKay Holcombe Senior Vice President, Science Policy - Biotechnology Industry OrganizationPeter Marks Deputy Director, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research - U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationRichard Moscicki Deputy Center Director for Science Operations, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research - U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationRachel Sherman Principal, Drug and Biological Drug Products - Greenleaf Health LLC
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