Conditional drug approvals set to expand biotech universe

Weighing up risk vs reward

Crises are well-known for accelerating change, and the Covid-19 pandemic was no exception.

Had the delivery of vaccines and therapies not been urgently fast-tracked, countless more lives could have been lost. Conditional drug approvals were key to the rapid pandemic response, and their success is now opening the door to greater utilisation of this life-saving process. While the Covid-19 crisis raised awareness of the accelerated route to drug approval, it is nothing new. In the interest of public health, conditional approvals allow a drug company to legally sell a drug before it meets the comprehensive clinical data normally required. This mechanism was introduced in the 1980s...