Alliance Submits Comments to FDA on New Osteoarthritis Pain Management Medications
Published March 15, 2021
March 10th, 2021 – On March 10, 2021, the Alliance for Aging Research submitted a letter to the FDA’s Arthritis Advisory Committee and Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee highlighting the need for new pain management medications for older adults with osteoarthritis. According to survey data from the Arthritis Foundation, there are an estimated 32.5 million people with osteoarthritis in the United States, and only 15 percent of patients consider their condition “well-managed.” Current therapies to address osteoarthritis pain have both limited efficacy for late-stage osteoarthritis pain management and toxicity concerns that make them not suitable for all patients. There is an urgent need for innovative medications to treat osteoarthritis patients more effectively.
The Alliance submitted the letter ahead of an FDA Advisory Council meeting to discuss an application for a subcutaneous injection developed to relieve the signs and symptoms of moderate to severe osteoarthritis in adults who do not receive adequate pain relief from other treatments. The Alliance letter asks the FDA to consider the current absence of medications to address chronic pain for older adults, the side effects of existing medications to address pain in osteoarthritis, and benefit-risk preferences of patients with severe pain. Click here to read the comments.
On March 24, 2021, the Alliance’s President and CEO Sue Peschin presented oral comments to the FDA Advisory Council meeting. Click here to read her personal remarks.
About the Alliance for Aging Research
The Alliance for Aging Research is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the pace of scientific discoveries and their application to vastly improve the universal human experience of aging and health. The Alliance believes advances in research help people live longer, happier, more productive lives and reduce healthcare costs over the long term. For more than 30 years, the Alliance has guided efforts to substantially increase funding and focus for aging at the National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration; built influential coalitions to guide groundbreaking regulatory improvements for age-related diseases; and created award-winning, high-impact educational materials to improve the health and well-being of older adults and their family caregivers. For more information, visit www.agingresearch.org
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