In a joint editorial, the former FDA commissioner, along with the research head of Sanofi, called on global governments to work together to make patient access to new medications easier, saying drug regulations have failed to do this so far, according to Reuters.
"Drug development is global and we need to have safety and efficacy data globally, so we should have a global system, just like with airplanes," Elias Zerhouni, of Sanofi, told Reuters in an interview.
Zerhouni and Margaret Hamburg's joint editorial was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
They called for the issue to be tackled at the G8 or G20 groups of nations.
According to the article the pair wrote, "we would challenge governments, including congresses and parliaments, presidents and prime ministers, to put harmonization on their agenda."
