The Path Forward: Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program | FDA

The Path Forward: Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program | FDA

By: Stephen M. Hahn, M.D., Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research and Janet Woodcock, M.D., Director, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is an unprecedented event in modern history and has required an extraordinary response around the world. As is true with any public health emergency, there’s tremendous interest among all parties to identify and implement potential short- and long-term solutions.

Quickly after the emergence of this virus, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began working directly with federal health partners, academia and industry to advance medical countermeasures against COVID-19. Given the urgent nature of the pandemic, the FDA launched a new program called the Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program (CTAP) to move new treatments to patients as soon as possible, while at the same time finding out whether they are helpful or harmful. So far, 72 clinical trials of potential therapies for COVID-19 are underway with FDA oversight.