Top 10 Medical Research Issues and Trends to Watch in 2015

At FasterCures, we are always thinking about ways to innovate the medical research system so that better treatments and cures get to patients faster. Read below to find out the top 10 issues and trends that we are watching this year: Crossing the aisle for cures. Kicking off 2015 will likely be the release of a draft of the 21st Century Cures legislation the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee has been developing under the leadership of Chairman Fred Upton and Representative Diana DeGette. The process itself has been a rare bright spot of comity and bipartisanship in the Congress, and a positive undertaking by members and staff to address a number of the entrenched systemic challenges in medical research that have become status quo. Will it make it through the wringer that it takes for an idea to become a bill and then a law? Perhaps, if patient groups and advocates like what they see and encourage their members to move it along. PDUFA VI: Regulations for patients? Also kicking off in 2015 will be the process of discussions leading to a new Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), due to be passed in 2017. PDUFA V introduced some important initiatives to improve the regulatory process; what add-ons will the new round of negotiations bring? We'll be looking for continued improvement in the patient-focused drug development process that began with PDUFA V (specifically the inclusion of patient perspective in the assessment of desired benefits and tolerable risks, not just t...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news