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On Oct. 1, 2024, the FDA began implementing a reorganization impacting many parts of the agency. We are in the process of updating FDA.gov content to reflect these changes.

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  3. Development & Approval Process | Drugs
  4. How Drugs are Developed and Approved
  5. Drug and Biologic Approval and IND Activity Reports
  6. NDA and BLA Approvals
  7. Accelerated Approval Program
  1. NDA and BLA Approvals

The FDA instituted its Accelerated Approval Program to allow for earlier approval of drugs that treat serious conditions, and fill an unmet medical need based on a surrogate endpoint.  A surrogate endpoint is a marker, such as a laboratory measurement, radiographic image, physical sign or other measure that is thought to predict clinical benefit but is not itself a measure of clinical benefit. The use of a surrogate endpoint can considerably shorten the time required prior to receiving FDA approval.

Drug companies are still required to conduct studies to confirm the anticipated clinical benefit. If the confirmatory trial shows that the drug actually provides a clinical benefit, then the FDA grants traditional approval for the drug.  If the confirmatory trial does not show that the drug provides clinical benefit, FDA has regulatory procedures in place that could lead to removing the drug from the market.

Infectious Disease Indications Accelerated Approvals

Non-malignant Hematological, Neurological, and Other Disorder Indications Accelerated Approvals

Cancer Accelerated Approvals


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Information about new and updated accelerated approvals plus recent news related to drugs

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