In today’s ACT Brief, we examine three priorities for first-time APAC sponsors, how continuous glucose monitoring should be used in diabetes trials, and why FDA is requiring a new eye-related warning across GLP-1 medications.
News|Podcasts|November 13, 2026
ACT Brief: Zip Code Trial Access, Smaller Biotech APAC Perceptions, and Pimjetmi Tumor Approval
Author(s)Andy Studna, Senior Editor
In today’s ACT Brief, we examine how ZIP code shapes trial availability and enrollment, why smaller biotechs hold outdated views of APAC sites, and how FDA approved Pimjetmi for symptomatic tenosynovial giant cell tumor.
This is the Applied Clinical Trials Brief—your fast track to the latest insights shaping clinical operations and drug development.
- In a
video interview , Shaalan Beg, MD, MBA, FASCO, chief medical officer at ConcertAI, explains why trial availability, shaped heavily by ZIP code, is the biggest barrier to enrollment. He says access patterns mirror broader healthcare disparities. - In a
new Q&A , James Cheong, senior vice president of Asia Pacific at Precision for Medicine, discusses why outdated perceptions of APAC sites persist among smaller biotechs. He explains how China’s regulatory reforms have reshaped Phase III startup timelines. He also outlines what first-time sponsors need to get right in the region. FDA approved Merck KGaA’s Pimjetmi , an oral CSF-1R inhibitor, for adults with symptomatic tenosynovial giant cell tumor for whom surgical removal may cause worsening function or severe complications. In the Phase III MANEUVER study, 56% of patients achieved an objective tumor response at week 25, compared with 3% on placebo. Treatment discontinuation due to adverse events occurred in 1.6% of patients on Pimjetmi.
That’s all for today’s ACT Brief. Join us next week for more updates shaping clinical operations and drug development. Thanks for listening.
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