Japan's Special Approval for Emergency System During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The development of drugs for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global challenge. In Japan, remdesivir was approved in May 2020 for COVID-19 caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. In February 2021, a vaccine against COVID-19 was approved. These two approvals were made using the Special Approval for Emergency system in Japan. This Japanese system was started in 2010 and has been used to approve four drugs to date, including remdesivir and the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. This paper discusses future challenges for Japan's Special Approval for Emergency system and organizes what can be learned from experiences to date. As a result, I would like to point Out the following issues. (i) Special Approval for Emergency is a system for approving drugs approved overseas, not a system for approving drugs originally developed in Japan. A system to approve drugs that have not been approved in foreign countries needs to be considered. (ii) In the Special Approval for Emergency system, it is necessary to ensure that postmarketing activities are conducted in accordance with the Risk Management Plan and the conditions of approval, to disclose the results in a timely and speedy manner, and to judge the appropriateness of continued approval based on the results of postmarketing activities.