Analysis of FDA's Accelerated Approval Program Performance December 1992-December 2021

The accelerated approval pathway has been criticized recently for employing lower regulatory standards than traditional drug approval, undue delays in withdrawing approvals of drugs for which studies have not confirmed clinical benefit, and confirmatory trials not being pursued with due diligence. This article examines the status of confirmatory studies of drugs approved under the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) accelerated approval program between December 1992 and December 2021. It includes background on the program and provides broader context about the program’s performance to date over its 30-year history. Our analysis demonstrates that the accelerated approval program has been largely successful, with half of accelerated approvals converted to traditional approval in a median time of 3.2 years. Furthermore, recent FDA actions show that the agency is appropriately managing the program when a drug approved under accelerated approval fails to confirm a clinical benefit. Any proposed changes to the program should be based on cumulative experience with the program, rather than outliers.