FDA to Hold Patient-Focused Drug Development Meeting on Chronic Pain

The U. S. Food and Drug Administration will host a Patient-Focused Drug Development meeting on chronic pain on July 9 to provide patients with an opportunity to offer the agency their perspectives on the impacts of chronic pain, views on treatment approaches, and challenges or barriers to accessing treatments.

The agency is particularly interested in hearing from patients who experience chronic pain that is managed with analgesic medications such as opioids, acetaminophen, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, antidepressants, other medications, and non-pharmacologic interventions or therapies.

FDA began hosting Patient-Focused Drug Development meetings in 2012. Since then, the agency has held 24 such meetings including several focused on rare diseases. The meetings provided FDA, researchers, drug developers and healthcare providers with an opportunity to hear patients’ perspectives on symptoms, the impact of disease on their lives and treatment options. FDA issues a Voice of the Patient report after each meeting to summarize patients’ input.

The July 9 meeting will be held at the FDA’s White Oak Campus in Silver Spring, Maryland. Registration to attend in-person or via webcast is free and available here through July 2. FDA also welcomes the submission of comments (based on the questions raised in the meeting announcement) by patients and patient representatives by September 10.

Additional information on how patients can inform drug development and review is available in the RARE Toolkit entitled, “From Molecules to Medicines: How Patients Can Share Their Voices Throughout the Drug Development Process” which is available to download for free here.

June 4, 2018