FDA launches pilot program to shorten drug approval times

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration is opening applications for a pilot program designed to shorten the amount of time it takes for drugmakers to begin testing their products in humans, the agency announced Tuesday. 

The pilot was first announced in June as part of Operation TrialBlazer, the Department of Health and Human Services initiative that pledged to shorten the FDA’s drug approval timelines and help the U.S. compete with the rapidly accelerating biotechnology industries in countries like China and Australia.

“Too often, the U.S. pathway can be measured in years, while other countries’ pathways are measured in months,” the department wrote in the TrialBlazer roadmap.