FDA Accelerates Drug Approvals with New Priority Voucher Program

The FDA's new CNPV pilot program awards nine companies with expedited review processes
Oct. 21, 2025
2 min read

Key Highlights

  • The CNPV pilot program awards vouchers to products addressing unmet medical needs, public health crises, or boosting domestic manufacturing.
  • Recipients benefit from a significantly reduced review timeline of 1-2 months, compared to the standard 10-12 months.
  • FDA nominates products based on their potential to meet critical health priorities, with ongoing announcements of additional recipients.
  • Selected products include treatments for infertility, diabetes, addiction, deafness, blindness, and cancer, as well as critical drugs for domestic manufacturing.
  • Enhanced communication with FDA review staff aims to streamline development and approval processes for these priority products.

Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced nine voucher recipients under the new Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher (CNPV) pilot program. The program was announced in June to accelerate approvals for companies aligned with “critical U.S. national health priorities.”

In the press release, the FDA explained that each recipient has a product with significant potential to address a major national priority, such as meeting a large unmet medical need, reducing downstream healthcare utilization, addressing a public health crisis, boosting domestic manufacturing, or increasing medication affordability with Most Favored Nation pricing.  

According to the FDA, voucher recipients will receive a decision within 1-2 months, reduced from 10-12 months, after submitting a complete application for a drug or biologic. Additionally, sponsors will have improved communication with review staff throughout the development process before their final submission.

Each drug review division within the FDA was responsible for nominating a product it considered to meet the program's goals.

The following products were selected:

  • Pergoveris for infertility
  • Teplizumab for Type I diabetes
  • Cytisinicline for nicotine vaping addiction
  • DB-OTO for deafness
  • Cenegermin-bkbj for blindness
  • RMC-6236 for pancreatic cancer
  • Bitopertin for porphyria
  • Ketamine for domestic manufacturing of a critical drug for general anesthesia 
  • Augmentin XR for domestic manufacturing of a common antibiotic 

Another group of CNPV recipients is expected to be announced in the coming months.

About the Author

Pietje Kobus

Pietje Kobus

Pietje Kobus has an international background and experience in content management and editing. She studied journalism in the Netherlands and Communications and Creative Nonfiction in the U.S. Pietje joined Healthcare Innovation in January 2024.

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