Dataset Information

Analysis of Postapproval Clinical Trials of Therapeutics Approved by the US Food and Drug Administration Without Clinical Postmarketing Requirements or Commitments.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can use postmarketing requirements to mandate pharmaceutical companies to conduct clinical trials after the approval of novel therapeutics. Pharmaceutical companies can also agree to conduct nonmandated clinical trials as postmarketing commitments. However, when therapeutics are approved by the FDA without postmarketing requirements or postmarketing commitments, it is not well known how often pharmaceutical companies voluntarily conduct trials and report results monitoring safety or efficacy after approval.

Objective

To characterize postapproval clinical trials sponsored by pharmaceutical companies of therapeutics initially approved by the FDA without clinical postmarketing requirements or commitments.

Design, setting, and participants

This cross-sectional analysis included postapproval clinical trials conducted with at least 1 site in the United States sponsored by pharmaceutical companies of therapeutics first approved by the FDA from 2009 through 2012. Analyses were conducted June 11, 2018, to November 30, 2018.

Main outcomes and measures

Postapproval clinical trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov generating safety or efficacy data, characteristics including whether trials focused on approved or unapproved indications, study design elements, and rates of study completion and results reporting.

Results

From 2009 through 2012, the FDA approved 110 novel therapeutics for 120 indications, of which 37 novel therapeutics for 39 indications did not have postmarketing requirements or commitments for new clinical studies at the time of first approval. For 31 therapeutics (83.8%), there were 600 postapproval clinical trials sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. Most trials investigated therapeutics for new indications (363 [60.5%]) or expanded populations of the originally indicated disease (122 [20.3%]). Trials were often small (median [interquartile range] enrollment, 44 [21-131] participants), nonrandomized (359 [59.8%]), unblinded (455 [75.8%]), and lacked comparators (381 [63.5%]). Approximately half of the trials (311 [51.8%]) assessed at least 1 clinical outcome. Of 300 terminated or completed trials, 204 trials (68.0%) had reported results on ClinicalTrials.gov a median (interquartile range) 16 (13-25) months after their primary completion date. For the 96 trials (32.0%) without reported results, a median (interquartile range) 35 (13-62) months had passed since their primary completion date.

Conclusions and relevance

Pharmaceutical companies frequently conducted clinical trials after approval, even when there were no clinical postmarketing requirements or commitments at approval. However, most of these trials evaluated new indications or expanded patient populations rather than monitored approved uses, and nearly half of the trials remained incomplete more than 5 years after original therapeutic approval.

SUBMITTER: Skydel JJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6512282 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Background/aimsThe US Food and Drug Administration outlines clinical studies as postmarketing requirements and commitments to be fulfilled following approval of new drugs and biologics ("therapeutics"). Regulators have increasingly emphasized lifecycle evaluation of approved therapeutics, and postmarketing studies are intended to advance our understanding of therapeutic safety and efficacy. However, little is known about the indications that clinical studies outlined in postmarketing requirements and commitments investigate, including whether they are intended to generate evidence for approved or other clinical indications. Therefore, we characterized US Food and Drug Administration postmarketing requirements and commitments for new therapeutics approved from 2009 to 2018.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study of all novel therapeutics, including small-molecule drugs and biologics, receiving original US Food and Drug Administration approval from 2009 to 2018, using approval letters accessed through the Drug@FDA database. Outcomes included the number and characteristics of US Food and Drug Administration postmarketing requirements and commitments for new therapeutics at original approval, including the types of studies outlined, the indications to be investigated, and the clinical evidence to be generated.ResultsFrom 2009 to 2018, the US Food and Drug Administration approved 343 new therapeutics with 1978 postmarketing requirements and commitments. Overall, 750 (37.9%) postmarketing requirements and commitments outlined clinical studies. For 71 of 343 (20.7%) therapeutics, no postmarketing requirements or commitments for clinical studies were outlined, while at least 1 was outlined for 272 (79.3%; median 2 (interquartile range: 1-4)). Among these 272 therapeutics, the number of postmarketing requirements and commitments for clinical studies per therapeutic did not change from 2009 (median: 2 (interquartile range: 1-4)) to 2018 (median: 2 (interquartile range: 1-3)). Among the 750 postmarketing requirements and commitments for clinical studies, 448 (59.7%) outlined new prospective cohort studies, registries, or clinical trials, while the remainder outlined retrospective studies, secondary analyses, or completion of ongoing studies. Although 455 (60.7%) clinical studies investigated only original approved therapeutic indications, 123 (16.4%) enrolled from an expansion of the approved disease population and 61 (8.1%) investigated diseases unrelated to approved indications.ConclusionsThe US Food and Drug Administration approves most new therapeutics with at least 1 postmarketing requirement or commitment for a clinical study, and outlines investigations of safety or efficacy for both approved and unapproved indications. The median number of 2 clinical studies outlined has remained relatively constant over the last decade. Given increasing emphasis by the US Food and Drug Administration on faster approval and lifecycle evaluation of therapeutics, these findings suggest that more postmarketing requirements and commitments may be necessary to address gaps in the clinical evidence available for therapeutics at approval.

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