Regulatory

The Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 to allow the Trump administration’s NIH funding cuts to continue, impacting more than 1,700 medical research grants in areas including heart disease, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, and mental health.

In this episode of the Applied Clinical Trials Brief, we spotlight a recent video interview in which Jon Walsh, founder and chief scientific officer of Unlearn.AI, shared how digital twins can improve trial efficiency, enhance patient-centric designs, align with regulatory expectations, and accelerate access to new therapies.

With approval to proceed, the Phase II trial (NCT06092034) of RP-A501 for Danon disease restarts under an optimized dosing and immunomodulatory strategy.

An overview of how recent funding reductions are reshaping clinical trial operations, from site sustainability and patient recruitment to trial design and long-term strategy.

Breakthrough Therapy Designation was based on results from the Phase II IDeate-Lung01 trial (NCT05280470), which demonstrated clinically meaningful benefits in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer treated with ifinatamab deruxtecan.

Ron Lanton, partner, Lanton Law, explains how shifts in policy and government guidance could reduce public participation and complicate the design and recruitment of future vaccine trials.

In this Q&A, Rohit Nambisan, CEO of Lokavant, and Jonathan Crowther, head of predictive analytics, Pfizer, explore how AI is transforming study feasibility, regulatory review, and trial execution.

Jon Walsh, founder, chief scientific officer, Unlearn, explains how regulators are clarifying best practices for integrating AI and digital twins into clinical research.

In this episode of the Applied Clinical Trials Brief, we recap our three most-viewed stories of the previous week with a look into the FDA’s heightened scrutiny of trial design, the wind-down of federal mRNA vaccine programs, and how digital innovation is reshaping the clinical research landscape.

In this video interview, Meri Beckwith, Co-CEO of Lindus Health, examines how recent developments with Complete Response Letters have shifted industry perceptions of FDA breakthrough designation—highlighting that it offers faster review timelines and investor visibility, but not a higher likelihood of final approval.

A unified technology approach improves study efficiency and data collection.

In this video interview, Luke Wilson, senior director, biotech, pharma services at Thermo Fisher Scientific, discusses how integrated systems and data transparency enable sponsors to meet evolving regulatory expectations and streamline FDA inspections through enhanced operational readiness.

As clinical trials become more complex, success depends on early collaboration, thoughtful protocol design, and practical strategies to manage risk, reduce delays, and support patients.

In this video interview, Michael Miller, chief operating officer at Quanterix, discusses how biopharma companies—especially smaller biotechs—can leverage platform trials and biomarker-driven accelerated approvals to remain efficient and competitive amid shifting public-private funding dynamics.

In this pilot episode of the Applied Clinical Trials Brief, we examine the renewed push for placebo-controlled vaccine trials in the US, why experts warn it violates core ethical standards, and how these proposals could jeopardize both participant safety and future innovation.

In this video interview, Michael Miller, chief operating officer at Quanterix, outlines key technical and regulatory considerations for clinical operations professionals integrating biomarkers into studies, stressing the importance of clarity on biomarker purpose and working with qualified assay partners.

In this video interview, Kate Gallin Heffernan, life sciences attorney at Epstein Becker Green, advises clinical research organizations to assess their portfolios, diversify funding sources, and strengthen industry-academic partnerships to maintain compliance and continuity amid shifting federal priorities.

Complete Response Letters recently issued by the FDA signal heightened scrutiny of trial design and reinforce the agency’s shifting regulatory expectations for sponsors and CROs.

In this video interview, Kate Gallin Heffernan, life sciences attorney at Epstein Becker Green, advises clinical research teams to closely scrutinize federal fund certifications and document good-faith compliance efforts, even when policies stem from nonbinding executive orders.

In this video interview, Kate Gallin Heffernan, life sciences attorney at Epstein Becker Green, explains how clinical research teams can accurately report on diversity-related grant work while minimizing exposure to False Claims Act scrutiny, by focusing on precise language and framing.

Despite ambitions to streamline regulatory review, FDA’s Elsa platform has been prone to hallucinations, prompting internal scrutiny and questions about AI reliability and governance.

In this video interview, Kate Gallin Heffernan, life sciences attorney at Epstein Becker Green, outlines how even unenforced executive orders can influence federal funding decisions, prompting sponsors and sites to alter public trial messaging to avoid informal scrutiny.

In this video interview, Kate Gallin Heffernan, life sciences attorney at Epstein Becker Green, explains how recent executive orders are creating uncertainty around compliance for clinical research teams receiving federal funding, and why staying alert to agency interpretation is key.

The FDA’s complete response letter cited concerns that the Phase I/II IGNYTE (NCT03767348) trial in advanced melanoma was not an adequate, well-controlled study and that its heterogeneous patient population limited interpretability, preventing approval in its current form.

Despite the setback with the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee vote, GSK emphasizes the unmet need in multiple myeloma and highlights global momentum behind Blenrep combination approvals.