Bipartisan ‘Right-To-Try’ Bill Would Keep FDA In The Loop Which May Ease Pharma Worries
The advocates behind the "right-to-try" movement are likely to be upset about the Food and Drug Administration still playing any role, because they think the agency makes the process more cumbersome.
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A Compromise 'Right-To-Try' Bill Proceeds With Help From FDA, But Could Be A Hard Sell
A bipartisan bill aimed at helping terminally ill patients gain access to experimental medicines would leave intact the controversial role of the Food and Drug Administration, a notion that will likely upset backers of the so-called right-to-try movement. The draft legislation, which is being developed with help from the FDA, also includes a provision that seeks to reassure anxious drug makers about making their treatments available, but to what extent this move makes the effort easier to forge a compromise is uncertain. (Silverman, 2/5)
In other pharmaceutical news —
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Bristol Claims Victory In Crucial Lung Cancer Immunotherapy Trial
Bristol-Myers Squibb reported positive results Monday in a crucial immunotherapy trial, using a combination of the two drugs Opdivo and Yervoy to treat patients with a specific type of non-small cell lung cancer patients. But previously undisclosed changes made by Bristol to the study, known as Checkmate-227, are raising questions about the validity and strength of the results. (Feuerstein, 2/5)