On Tuesday, March 31, 2020, the FDA announced a new program aimed at facilitating research and development of COVID-19 treatments. With over 920,000 confirmed cases globally, the Coronavirus pandemic is forcing the FDA to create a rapid pathway for treatments. The new Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program (CTAP) is the FDA’s answer to the massive surge of inquiries across the public, academic, and private sectors looking for ways to treat COVID-19...

1. FDA’s Coronavirus Treatment
Acceleration Program
By: Madison Wheeler
On Tuesday, March 31, 2020, the FDA announced a new program aimed at facilitating research
and development of COVID-19 treatments. With over 920,000 confirmed cases globally, the
Coronavirus pandemic is forcing the FDA to create a rapid pathway for treatments.1 The new
Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program (CTAP) is the FDA’s answer to the massive surge
of inquiries across the public, academic, and private sectors looking for ways to treat COVID-19.
With this program, the agency hopes to bring new therapies to patients as quickly and safely as
possible.
Under the CTAP, staff from the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) and the
Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) will be providing feedback and
interactive input to inquiries as quickly as possible. The Agency’s goal is to respond to
developers within a day, conduct trial protocol reviews within 24 hours, and review single-
patient expanded access requests within 3 hours.2 To keep up with these goals, and the influx of
firms trying to get their COVID-19 treatments to patients, the FDA is working around the clock
and redeploying medical, regulatory, and operations staff to serve on review teams solely
dedicated to COVID-19 therapies.
While the FDA is trying to maximize its regulatory flexibility, they are also still prioritizing
patient safety. The FDA is prioritizing well-controlled trials to reliably determine that a COVID-
19 therapy can safely and effectively treat patients.3 The agency is also working with drug-
makers and researchers to develop study protocols that can be universally implemented in order
to streamline efforts while still maintaining safety.
According to the FDA, there are 10 therapies in active clinical trials, and another 15 in planning
stages; with the CTAP now live, they are hoping to see those numbers grow. If you have a
potential COVID-19 therapy and need help navigating the FDA pathways, EMMA International
can assist. We are keeping up to date with all the regulatory responses to the pandemic and are
1 WHO (March 2020) COVID-19 SituationReport -71 retrievedon 03/31/2020 from: https://www.who.int/docs/default-
source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200331-sitrep-71-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=4360e92b_4
2 Mehzer, RAPS (March 2020) New FDA Program to Accelerate Coronavirus Treatments retrievedon 03/31/2020 from:
https://www.raps.org/news-and-articles/news-articles/2020/3/new-fda-program-to-accelerate-coronavirus-
treatmen?utm_source=MagnetMail&utm_medium=Email%20&utm_campaign=RF%20Today%20%7C%2031%20March%20202
0
3 FDA (March 2020) COVID-19 Update:FDA Continues to Accelerate Development of Novel Therapies for COVID-19 retrieved on
03/31/2020 from: https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-continues-
accelerate-development-novel-therapies-covid-19

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