There's a first time for everything

By Dr Nicola Davies

In 2018, the FDA set a new record in the number of new drug approvals, with a total of 59 new drugs approved by its Center for Drug Evalution and Research (CDER).1 So far in 2019, the CDER has approved 8 drugs, with 6 of these approvals happening in the first quarter of the year,2 exactly the same number that was approved in the first quarter of 2018.3 However, 2019 hasn’t just been about increasing numbers of approvals. There has also been an increase in the quality of drug innovations, especially when compared with the previous decade, which saw what some described as an innovation crisis.1

This article examines the most recent approvals of first-of-a-kind drugs, as well as how the FDA is driving innovation in the pharmaceutical industry.