The risk-based approach to ATMP development - Generally accepted by regulators but infrequently used by companies

Advanced therapymedicinal products (ATMPs) are the cutting edge of drug innovation. ATMPs have different challenges than other drug classes. To accommodate these challenges and facilitate science-driven development, flexibility in the requirements to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of this rapidly evolving drug class is necessary. To create flexibility, the European Union introduced the risk-based approach. This approach provides the possibility of omitting guideline-based studies based on risk analyses. To gain insight into the effect of the risk-based approach on the non-clinical development of ATMPs, two questions are addressed in this paper. Firstly, ‘‘Do companies use a risk-based approach for the non-clinical development of ATMPs?’’ and, secondly, ‘‘Does the Committee forMedicinal Products forHuman Use (CHMP) of the EuropeanMedicines Agency (EMA) accept non-clinical development programs based on the risk-based approach?’’ Scientific advice letters formulated by theCHMPwere analyzed. The risk-basedapproach was used to justify deviations from the guidelines in themajority (75%) of the cases. The CHMP accepted 40% of the proposals to omit studies and stated that additional data was necessary to make an informed decision for 35% of the proposals. This indicates that the riskbased approach facilitates the science-driven development of ATMPs