All for one, one for all: An urgent call to harmonize global drug regulation against COVID-19
Guest Commentary: Why COVID-19 has created an urgency for a global regulatory framework
The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred enormous activity in the drug industry around the world with many companies pooling their expertise and technologies to develop vaccines and treatments. However, we have no visible global coordination of the responses among the national or regional regulatory authorities. Instead, regulatory decisions are happening only at the national -- or in some cases institutional -- level, resulting in fragmented efforts that waste valuable resources and time.
As of April 21, more than 2.5 million cases of COVID-19 and 180,000 deaths have been reported worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 data tracker. The disease has spread to over 200 countries and territories, and all major economies have felt its impact. There is still no definitive answer of which therapy would work effectively. ...