Comparative Expedited Regulatory Programs of U.S Food & Drug Administration and Project Orbis Partners.

Project Orbis was initiated in May 2019 by the Oncology Center of Excellence to facilitate faster patient access to innovative cancer therapies by providing a framework for concurrent submissions and review of oncology products among international partners. Since its inception, Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), Canada's Health Canada (HC), Singapore's Health Sciences Authority (HSA), Switzerland's Swissmedic (SMC), Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), United Kingdom's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), and most recently Israel's Ministry of Health (IMoH) Medical Technologies, Health Information, Innovation and Research (MTIIR) Directorate, have joined Project Orbis. While each country has its own expedited review pathways to bring promising therapies to patients, there are some similarities and differences in pathways and timelines. FDA's fast-track designation and MHRA's marketing authorization under exceptional circumstances (MAEC) allow non-clinical and limited clinical evidence to support approval under these programs. HC's Extraordinary Use New Drug (EUND) pathway allows granting exceptional use authorization with limited clinical evidence. ANVISA, HSA, MTIIR, and TGA do not have standard pathways that allow non-clinical evidence and limited clinical evidence. While there is no definite regulatory pathway for HSA, the current framework for approval does allow flexibility in the type of data (non-clinical or clinical) required to demonstrate the benefit-risk profile of a product. HSA may register a product if the agency is satisfied that the overall benefit outweighs the risk. All Project Orbis Partner (POP) countries have similar programs to the FDA accelerated approval program except ANVISA. Although HSA and MTIIR do not have defined pathways for accelerated approval programs, there are opportunities to request accelerated approval per these agencies. All POP countries have pathways like the FDA priority review except MHRA. Priority review timelines for new drugs range from 120 to 264 calendar days (cd). Standard review timelines for new drugs range from 180 to 365 cd.

Project Orbis: Global Collaborative Review Program.

In 2019, the FDA Oncology Center of Excellence launched Project Orbis, a global collaborative review program to facilitate faster patient access to innovative cancer therapies across multiple countries. Project Orbis aims for concurrent submission, review, and regulatory action for high-impact clinically significant marketing applications among the participating partner countries. Current Project Orbis partners (POP) include the regulatory health authorities (RHA) of Australia, Brazil, Canada, Singapore, and Switzerland. Project Orbis leverages the existing scientific and regulatory partnerships between the various RHA under mutual confidentiality agreements. While FDA serves as the primary coordinator for application selection and review, each country remains fully independent on their final regulatory decision. In the first year of Project Orbis (June 2019 to June 2020), a total of 60 oncology marketing applications were received, representing 16 unique projects, and resulting in 38 approvals. New molecular entities, also known as new active substances, comprised 28% of the received marketing applications. The median time gap between FDA and Orbis submission dates was 0.6 months with a range of -0.8 to 9.0 months. Across the program, the median time-to-approval was similar between FDA (4.2 months, range 0.9-6.9, N = 18) and the POP (4.4 months, range 1.7-6.8, N = 20). Participating countries have signified a strong commitment for continuation and growth of the program. Project Orbis expansion considerations include the addition of more countries and management of more complex applications.

NADPH oxidase and heart failure.

Reactive oxygen species play important roles in the pathophysiology of chronic heart failure secondary to chronic left ventricular hypertrophy or myocardial infarction. Reactive oxygen species influence several components of the phenotype of the failing heart, including contractile function, interstitial fibrosis, endothelial dysfunction and myocyte hypertrophy. Recent studies implicate the production of reactive oxygen species by a family of NADPH oxidases in these effects. NADPH oxidases are activated in an isoform-specific manner by many pathophysiological stimuli and exert distinct downstream effects. Understanding NADPH oxidase activation and regulation, and their downstream effectors, could help to develop novel therapeutic targets.

Adrenomedullin acts via nitric oxide and peroxynitrite to protect against myocardial ischaemia-induced arrhythmias in anaesthetized rats.

1. The overall aim of this study was to determine if adrenomedullin (AM) protects against myocardial ischaemia (MI)-induced arrhythmias via nitric oxide (NO) and peroxynitrite. 2. In sham-operated rats, the effects of in vivo administration of a bolus dose of AM (1 nmol kg-1) was assessed on arterial blood pressure (BP), ex vivo leukocyte reactive oxygen species generation and nitrotyrosine deposition (a marker for peroxynitrite formation) in the coronary endothelium. 3. In pentobarbitone-anaesthetized rats subjected to ligation of the left main coronary artery for 30 min, the effects of a bolus dose of AM (1 nmol kg-1, i.v.; n=19) or saline (n=18) given 5 min pre-occlusion were assessed on the number and incidence of cardiac arrhythmias. In a further series of experiments, some animals received infusions of the NO synthase inhibitor N(G)-nitro-L-arginine (LNNA) (0.5 mg kg-1 min-1) or the peroxynitrite scavenger N-mercaptopropionyl-glycine (MPG) (20 mg kg-1 h-1) before AM. 4. AM treatment significantly reduced mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) and increased ex vivo chemiluminescence (CL) generation from leukocytes in sham-operated animals. AM also enhanced the staining for nitrotyrosine in the endothelium of coronary arteries. 5. AM significantly reduced the number of total ventricular ectopic beats that occurred during ischaemia (from 1185+/-101 to 520+/-74; P<0.05) and the incidences of ventricular fibrillation (from 61 to 26%; P<0.05). AM also induced a significant fall in MABP prior to occlusion. AM-induced cardioprotection was abrogated in animals treated with the NO synthase inhibitor LNNA and the peroxynitrite scavenger MPG. 6. This study has shown that AM exhibits an antiarrhythmic effect through a mechanism that may involve generation of NO and peroxynitrite.