FDA Approves New Cancer Drugs Faster Than European Regulators

The Food and Drug Administration approves more cancer drugs and those it approves receive approval more quickly than its European counterpart, according to a study published in Health Affairs by the advocacy group Friends of Cancer Research.

Released June 16, the study found that “contrary to repeated public assertions … new oncology medicines are consistently available in the United States before they are in Europe and they are more likely to be approved by the FDA than by the EMA [European Medicines Agency].”

Between 2003 and 2010, the median time for FDA’s cancer-drug approvals was six months while the EMA ...