Speeding up FDA review for neglected diseases

One of the biggest challenges in medicine today is getting effective diagnostic and therapeutic drugs through the regulatory process unscathed. Judit Rius, the U.S. manager and legal policy adviser for Doctors Without Borders has words of wisdom to share about how to improve FDA reviews and incentives for the development of treatments for much needed drugs, including those for neglected tropical diseases.

While eBola is not on the list yet, a bill is currently running through U.S. Congress to add it to the ranks of neglected tropical diseases, according to the recent Wall Street Journal interview.

“There’s a lot of suffering caused by these diseases and there’s no appropriate treatment – vaccines or diagnostics – which additional development could alleviate,” said Rius in the report. “And that’s why it’s important to create incentives to promote innovation.”