Expanded Access Programs
نویسندگان
چکیده
Expanded access is a regulatory mechanism by which an investigational drug can be made available outside of a clinical trial to treat patients with serious or life-threatening conditions for which there are no satisfactory treatment options. An expanded access program (EAP) is the formal plan under which preapproval access to an investigational drug can be provided to a group of patients. Although an EAP is a regulated program, the decision to authorize an EAP is the responsibility of the biopharmaceutical sponsor. Because of the significant impact an EAP can have on current patients, drug development, and future patients, we propose that a sponsor's decision must be based not only on regulatory criteria but also on ethical and practical considerations regarding implementation of an EAP. Such an approach will help ensure that decisions and plans uphold ethical precepts such as fairness, promoting good, and minimizing risk of harm.
منابع مشابه
(R)evolution: toward a new paradigm of policy and patient advocacy for expanded access to experimental treatments
In life-threatening conditions such as cancer and rare diseases, where there is no cure and no U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved therapy, patients sometimes seek access to an unapproved, experimental therapy through expanded access programs as their last, best hope for treatment to save their lives. Since the 1980s, the policies and the practice of expanded access have evolved, b...
متن کاملIs it time to rethink the expanded-access programs for HIV infection?
The purpose of expanded-access programs (EAPs) for antiretroviral therapy has been to allow patients without alternative treatment options to obtain drugs before formal Food and Drug Administration approval. Given the dramatic changes that have occurred in antiretroviral therapeutic approaches during the past 2 decades, we wish to review the history of antiretroviral EAPs and to propose an upda...
متن کاملGoing “social” to access experimental and potentially life-saving treatment: an assessment of the policy and online patient advocacy environment for expanded access
Social media is fundamentally altering how we access health information and make decisions about medical treatment, including for terminally ill patients. This specifically includes the growing phenomenon of patients who use online petitions and social media campaigns in an attempt to gain access to experimental drugs through expanded access pathways. Importantly, controversy surrounding expand...
متن کاملAn analysis of common ethical justifications for compassionate use programs for experimental drugs
BACKGROUND When a new intervention or drug is developed, this has to pass through various phases of clinical testing before it achieves market approval, which can take many years. This raises an issue for drugs which could benefit terminally ill patients. These patients might set their hopes on the experimental drug but are unable to wait since they are likely to pass away before the drug is av...
متن کاملFDA's proposed regulations to expand access to investigational drugs for treatment use: the status quo in the guise of reform.
On December 14, 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed two new regulations in the Federal Register amending current regulations governing expanded access to investigational drugs for treatment use and charging for investigational drugs. The proposals come at a time when FDA has found itself under new pressure to provide seriously ill patients with early access to investigational ...
متن کاملCompassionate use of and expanded access to new drugs for drug-resistant tuberculosis.
Several new classes of anti-tuberculosis agents are likely to become available in the coming decade. Ensuring prompt access to these drugs for patients without other treatment options is an important medical and public health issue. This article reviews the current state of 'compassionate use' and 'expanded access' programs for these new drugs, and identifies several shortcomings that will lim...
متن کامل