Chief operating officer Stuart Arbuckle and chief scientific officer David Altshuler talked to Scrip about potential launches in sickle cell disease and pain, and the firm’s expanding pipeline.

The upcoming year could see a rebound approvals if the bigger-than-usual queue of novel agents with 2023 user fee goal dates pans out.

Moderation was a theme of the year in novel approvals, as CDER’s median review time rose for the first time in five years and even the center’s fastest approval took more than seven months. A Pink Sheet infographic breaks down which review pathways did the best last year. 

Pfizer joined Novartis as the market leader in sickle cell disease when it acquired Global Blood Therapeutics last year. The US giant's Oxbryta may now move ahead following a clinical and regulatory setback for the Swiss major's Adakveo.