FDA approved 53 novel drugs in 2020

Despite dealing with the urgent need to evaluate vaccines, drugs and diagnostics tests relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, the US Food and Drug Administration cleared a bumper number of novel drugs last year.

The FDA approved a total of 53 new products in 2020, the second-highest number in more than 20 years, and well above the 48 new meds cleared in 2019.

Among the notable approvals were two treatments for Ebola virus, the first fully-approved antiviral for COVID-19, the first oral treatment for spinal muscular atrophy, and the first treatment for children with a rare genetic disease that causes them to develop tumors on their nerves. The year also brought 10 new cancer treatments, including another two antibody-drug conjugates, a class that has become an increasingly permanent fixture in the new drug list.