The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) invites people living with autism, family members and advocates to participate in a meeting and panel discussion on Patient-Focused Drug Development for Autism, Thursday May 4, from 1 to 5 pm Eastern. In particular, the FDA seeks the community’s views on treatment approaches and personal stories of how autism affects daily life.
Patient-focused drug development incorporates the patient’s voice in the development and FDA evaluation of new medicines.
Panelists at the May 4 meeting will include Autism Speaks Chief Science Officer Thomas Frazier, the parent of a child who has autism. A clinical psychologist and autism researcher, Dr. Frazier directed the Center for Autism at Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital before recently joining Autism Speaks.
The meeting will focus on two main discussion topics.
First, the FDA wants to hear directly from affected individuals and family members about the symptoms that have the most significant effect on their lives. This includes learning about major worries and curtailed activities that are important to you.
Second, the FDA wants to hear about how you currently manage autism-related challenges. This includes:
* What you see as significant drawback to current treatments,
* What you want to see in new treatments, and
* What factors you consider when making decisions about managing autism-related symptoms and challenges.
The meeting will be held on the FDA’s Silver Spring campus and streamed via live webcast. To learn more and register, visit Public Meeting on Patient-Focused Drug Development for Autism.
In addition to inviting input at the public meeting, the FDA asks members of the autism community to share their perspectives and answer a series of related questions through the Federal Register public docket here. This docket link will remain open until July 5, 2017.