The COPD Foundation announced an upcoming meeting to ensure patient experiences and priorities are incorporated into the future of therapeutic development.
RT’s Three Key Takeaways:
- Patient-Centered Innovation: The COPD Foundation announced an upcoming meeting to ensure patient experiences and priorities are incorporated into the future of therapeutic development.
- Regulatory Collaboration: Modeled after FDA meetings, the event will bring together drug developers and stakeholders to inform regulatory decision-making and therapy needs.
- Addressing Treatment Gaps: The initiative seeks to bridge the gap between current therapies and the daily challenges faced by more than 30 million Americans living with the disease.
The COPD Foundation revealed plans for an Externally-Led Patient-Focused Drug Development (EL-PFDD) meeting for COPD, which will be held at a future date. The meeting is modeled after the FDA PFDD public meetings, with drug developers, FDA, and other stakeholders in attendance.
COPD, which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis, affects more than 30 million Americans. It is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States and the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. Despite important advances in care, many people with COPD still face ongoing symptoms not addressed by currently available treatments, which negatively impact quality of life and health outcomes.
The COPD EL-PFDD meeting will:
- Enhance understanding of how living with COPD impacts daily life experiences;
- Capture representative perspectives across the population on what matters most for improving their condition; and
- Inform therapy development and regulatory decision-making with insights on current care and treatment benefit needs.
“Scientific innovation has expanded the treatment landscape for COPD, but there remains a critical gap between what current therapies can achieve and what people living with the disease still experience every day,” said Jean Wright, M.D., MBA, CEO of the COPD Foundation. “This initiative will help ensure that the experiences, priorities, and treatment goals of people living with COPD are heard by the FDA and incorporated into the future of therapeutic innovation. Our goal is simple: to help drive the development of treatments that improve not only lung function, but also quality of life, independence, and the ability to participate fully in everyday life.”
The COPD EL-PFDD meeting is proposed for mid-2027 and will include a virtual element to ensure accessibility for all attendees. The Foundation will engage a wide array of COPD community stakeholders in support of this initiative.
Additional information about the COPD EL-PFDD meeting will be released at a later date, the COPD Foundation says.
