Pink Sheet reporter and editors discuss whether emotion could be removed from US FDA advisory committees, adverse events and advancing science in gene therapy development, and Capitol Hill’s interest in the ongoing user fee negotiations.

Recent adverse events are ‘speed bumps’ that need to be worked around, biologics center head Peter Marks says; Morgan Stanley’s Peter Hwang asserts high-profile safety issues have added to unpredictability of gene therapy development, dampening investor enthusiasm for the field.

Cellular responses and other potential immune correlates of protection could be better measurements of efficacy, Janssen’s vaccine discovery head argues at BIO.

Concerns about cases of heart muscle inflammation occurring in older male adolescents and young men shortly after the second dose of Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines hung over FDA advisory committee discussions on pediatric safety data requirements for COVID-19 vaccines; CDC’s ACIP will take up the myocarditis issue at an 18 June meeting.

Following accelerated approval of Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug aducanumab in the US, we look back at 10 of the FDA’s most controversial drug approval decisions, from Addyi to Zohydro.

Heterogeneity in PRO assessment strategies has lessened the regulatory utility of such data from cancer trials, the agency says; new draft guidance recommends systematic assessment of a core set of PROs in registrational studies using fit-for-purpose tools and includes examples of acceptable instruments.