Discoveries and Innovations in Drug Development (Vol. 26, No. 1, Full Issue)

For the month of January 2022, APBN looks at some discoveries and innovation in pharmacology. In Features, Dr Harish Dave, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of AUM Biosciences, discusses today's shifting paradigm in oncology drug development towards highly selective, minimally toxic, and patient-centric treatments, while Jade Pallett, Chief Technology Officer for Zoono UK & Europe, sheds light on how antimicrobial coatings outdo traditional methods of disinfection. Then, we have A/Prof Alexandra Sharland, Dr Nicole Mifsud, and Eric Son to elucidate how understanding antigen-specificity of host T cells can reduce organ transplantation rejection. Finally, in Spotlights, we have two interviews – one where we speak to Mr Willson Deng, CEO of Arcstone, on the role of digital technology in supporting MedTech manufacturing, and the other with Liu Qun, Head of IQVIA, China, where we learn more about the Chinese biopharmaceutical market.

FDA Oncology Center of Excellence landscape analysis of real-world data submissions for oncology drugs.

e18787 Background: Aligning with 21st Century Cures legislation, the FDA is exploring trial design modernization and methodology to advance appropriate uses of Real World Data (RWD) to generate Real World Evidence (RWE). The Oncology Center of Excellence RWE Program was established in 2020 to advance RWE efforts specific to oncology drug development. Inclusion of RWD to support regulatory decision making has increased in oncology, and a landscape analysis was conducted to characterize the RWD included in submissions. Methods: A systematic search was conducted using internal FDA databases to identify RWD submissions from 2010 to 2020. Search terms included: real world evidence, real world data, electronic health record, cancer registry, administrative claims, external control arm, observational cohort, historical control arm, rwOS, rwRR, rwCR, and rwORR. Relevant regulatory submissions were reviewed, and pre-defined common data elements were extracted. A team of FDA reviewers assessed agreement through subset validation (20%). Descriptive statistics were calculated. Results: A total of 142 regulatory submissions included RWD from 2011 to 2020. A subset of 94 submissions met the criteria for evaluation, consisting of 78 unique studies evaluating 56 molecular entities. RWD submissions increased substantially over time, with 28 submissions in 2020. Nearly half of the RWD submissions were for solid tumor indications (68%), with lung cancer being the most predominant site. More than one third of the RWD submissions (37%) were for rare indications. The most common primary RWD study objective was effectiveness (62%) and the most commonly referenced RWD source was EHR/clinical data (54%). The most frequently used primary RWD endpoints were survival (rwOS, 35%) and response (rwORR/PR/BTR, 31%) outcomes (Table). Conclusions: Our review demonstrates a dramatic increase in RWD submissions to support FDA oncology drug development programs. Submissions included a variety of study objectives, data sources, and endpoints. While this landscape analysis provides a picture of potential regulatory objectives, the adequacy of each proposal to support regulatory decision making was not evaluated. Establishing a set of clear regulatory objectives can help advance the development of metrics for robust data characterization and outcome validation to ensure that RWD can be appropriately evaluated and provide the rigor necessary to be considered adequate RWE.[Table: see text]

FDA and Its Role in Drug Development

JADPRO Live 2020 was honored to have Dr. Richard Pazdur, the Director of the Oncology Center of Excellence at the FDA, discuss recent changes to oncology drug development and the approval process, the roles of the advanced practitioner in the execution of clinical trials, and changes that have taken place as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.