To bring the voice of patients and caregivers impacted by asthma in childhood to the forefront of drug development and research, American Lung Association, the Allergy & Asthma Network, American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders, and Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America are collaborating on a new initiative — Little Airways, Big Voices.
On September 20, 2021, Little Airways, Big Voices is hosting a virtual externally-led patient-focused drug development (PFDD) meeting. This meeting is an opportunity to bring patient and caregiver perspectives to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as researchers and drug developers.
What Is a Patient-Focused Drug Development (PFDD) Meeting?
The FDA established the patient-focused drug development (PFDD) initiative to collect patient insights on specific diseases, including their impact on daily life and treatment options. PFDD meetings are designed to connect patients and caregivers directly with the FDA, as well as researchers and drug developers. Some PFDD meetings are led by the FDA and others are externally-led by patient advocacy organizations. The meetings and resulting “Voice of the Patient” reports help the FDA identify what is important to patients. This includes what people want treatment to look like (apart from a cure).
The goal of the Little Airways, Big Voices externally-led PFDD meeting is to gather patient and caregiver insights about living with and managing asthma in childhood that will inform new treatment strategies, effectively engage families in drug development, and improve health outcomes.
The American Lung Association recently co-hosted a community webinar to launch the Little Airways, Big Voices initiative. Representatives from the initiative collaborators along with Larry Bauer, Sr. Regulatory Drug Expert with Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, shared background information about PFDD meetings, and ways in which families can get involved in the initiative. We encourage you to watch the recording.
How Can I Get Involved?
Anyone who has experience living with and/or managing asthma in childhood is invited to attend the Little Airways, Big Voices externally-led PFDD meeting on September 20, 2021. During the meeting, there will be multiple ways to share your experiences. Participants will be invited to call in, submit written comments and questions, and take polls.
If you can’t join us for the meeting, there are other opportunities to add your voice to this initiative.
You can complete a brief survey to help us gather insights on disease burden, treatment options, and more. As a thank you for taking the survey, you can enter a drawing to win a $50 Amazon gift card.
You can also share your experiences living with and managing asthma in childhood by submitting written comments. We have begun accepting comments now atl LittleAirwaysBigVoices.org. We will continue to collect written comments through October 20th.
Voice of the Patient Report
All of the information gathered from the externally-led PFDD meeting, survey, and written comments will be analyzed and summarized in a Voice of the Patient report. The report will help inform the FDA, as well as researchers and drug development companies, what is important to people living with and managing asthma in childhood.
We plan to share the report in 2022, along with a recording of the virtual meeting.
Blog last updated: August 21, 2023
