Priority review (FDA)

Priority review is a mechanism used by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expedite the review process for drugs that are expected to have a particularly great impact on the treatment of a disease. The priority review voucher program is a program that grants a voucher for use of priority review to a drug developer as an incentive to develop treatments for neglected diseases and rare pediatric diseases. The voucher can be used for future drugs that could have wider indications for use, but the company is required to pay a fee (approximately $2.7 million) to use the voucher.

When seeking approval for a drug, manufacturers can apply to the FDA for priority review. This is granted when a drug is intended to treat a serious condition and would "provide a significant improvement in safety or effectiveness" over currently available treatments. A priority review voucher can be used when a drug does not fit these requirements, but the company wishes to expedite the review process.

In 2007, Title XI of the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 created the priority review voucher program for neglected tropical diseases. This was extended in 2012 by the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act to include rare pediatric diseases. The act built upon the tropical disease system and made amendments including a shorter notification to the FDA before exercising a voucher, a designation system so that early in the drug development cycle sponsors may use the possibility of earning a voucher in their valuation of their company, a requirement of a marketing plan and reporting of marketing, and indefinite transferability of the voucher.

Prior to approval, each drug marketed in the United States must go through a detailed FDA review process. In 1992, under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), FDA agreed to specific goals for improving the drug review time and created a two-tiered system of review times – standard review and priority review.

A priority review designation is given to drugs that offer major advances in treatment, or provide a treatment where no adequate therapy exists. The 2002 amendments to PDUFA set a goal that a standard review of a new drug application be accomplished within a ten-month time frame. The FDA goal for completing a priority review is six months. Priority review status can apply both to drugs that are used to treat serious diseases and to drugs for less serious illnesses.

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