EMA-FDA Parallel Scientific Advice: Optimizing Development of Medicines in the Global Age.

As medicines development continues towards a globalized approach, both the pharmaceutical industry and regulatory agencies increasingly seek opportunities to proactively engage early in product development. The parallel scientific advice program shared by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provides a mechanism for experts to concurrently engage in scientific discourse with sponsors on key issues during the development phase of new medicinal products (drugs, biologicals, vaccines, and advanced therapies).

Considering Global Development? Insights from Applications for FDA Breakthrough Therapy and EMA PRIME Designations.

The United States Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) each have programs to expedite development of products identified as having potential to address unmet medical needs: the Breakthrough therapy (BT) and Regenerative Medicines Advanced Therapies designation programs in the US and the Priority Medicines (PRIME) scheme at EMA. We reviewed commonalities and differences in requests submitted and products designated through these programs, with the intent to explore ways to better support global development. During the period from PRIME's launch in April 2016 to 31 December 2020, 151 requests were made to both BT and PRIME programs and the agencies reached concordant outcomes to grant or deny requests for almost two thirds of the cases (93/151, 62%), suggesting similar perspectives across international regulators on the potential of the products under study. Forty-two (42/151, 28%) products were granted both BT and PRIME, thus found by both Agencies to have the potential to address an unmet need for a serious condition, and thereby products for which efficient development would be highly desirable. Working toward better engagement on global development strategies is in the best interests of patients and public health. With this in mind, Agencies and sponsors should take advantage of existing collaborative opportunities, such as parallel scientific advice, and work to identify fresh approaches to support global development of products for unmet medical needs.

A Comparison of FDA and EMA Pregnancy and Lactation Labeling.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have robust collaboration and dialogue around the need for data and the inclusion of pregnant and lactating individuals in clinical trials. Despite this collaboration, the two agencies have their own standards for the format and content of labeling for these populations. To understand these differences, the pregnancy and lactation labeling sections for 31 approved drugs were compared, and trends were assessed for use of language concordance and discordance related to use during pregnancy and lactation between the 2 agencies. Further analysis evaluated the presence of human data included in the labeling. The EMA and the FDA had high discordance between pregnancy and lactation labeling language, in 68% and 71% of labeling, respectively, and only 10% of pregnancy labeling and 16% of lactation labeling include human data. Concordance in labeling language is not the norm but occurs when there is a sizeable body of human data, animal data suggesting a particular safety issue, drug mechanism of action information, or disease-specific considerations. This study highlights the need for more human data to inform prescribing decisions in these populations. The results also suggest that there is an opportunity for alignment in labeling across regions.

Assuring Access to Safe Medicines in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding.

Scientists and regulators in Europe and the United States continue to seek methods and strategies to improve knowledge on rational use of medicines for pregnant and breastfeeding populations, an important subset of women's health. Regulatory agencies have made strides toward improvement, but much more is needed. Recognizing the importance of international collaboration, we have begun to consider how to address these important public health issues more globally. The health of the child begins with the health of the mother.