1992-04-09
I am pleased to announce that, as part of the administration's ongoing efforts to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens, the Food and Drug Administration is today implementing important reforms to the drug approval process.
The reforms announced today could ultimately save millions of lives by giving patients, including those suffering from such debilitating diseases as cancer, AIDS, and Alzheimer's, earlier access to promising new drugs. The reforms will also make American pharmaceutical companies more competitive by allowing them to cut years off the drug development process.
These are the first steps toward achieving the administration's goal of reducing by about 40 percent the average amount of time it takes to bring new drugs to market.
Today's announcement is the outgrowth of an initiative I began in 1988 as Chairman of President Reagan's Task Force on Regulatory Relief. I commend the Council on Competitiveness and the Department of Health and Human Services for bringing this initiative to fruition.
