WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday announced the first round of experimental drugs that will receive drastically expedited reviews at the agency, part of an effort to prioritize medicines the Trump administration deems as “supporting U.S. national interests.”
The nine medicines announced by the FDA include potential treatments for vaping addiction, deafness, pancreatic cancer and other conditions.
Several of the drugs would compete with higher-priced drugs already on the U.S. market.
At the White House, President Donald Trump highlighted the injectable infertility drug, Pergoveris, which is currently sold in Europe for patients going through IVF treatments. Trump said FDA approval of the drug in the U.S. would help lower IVF costs for American families, one of his campaign pledges.
Another drugmaker received the specialty review to expand U.S. manufacturing of ketamine, the powerful anesthetic that has grown into a trendy psychedelic treatment.
Under the program announced earlier this year, the FDA will aim to decide whether to approve the drugs in one to two months, an unprecedented pace for the in-depth safety and effectiveness reviews performed by agency scientists.
FDA’s accelerated approval program generally issues decisions in six months for drugs that treat life-threatening diseases. Regular drug reviews take about 10 months.
Since arriving at the agency, FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary has suggested the agency could dramatically speed up approvals for certain high-priority drugs, pointing to the truncated process used to authorize the first COVID-19 vaccines under Operation Warp Speed.
Many aspects of the so-called Commissioner's National Priority Voucher program overlap with older FDA programs. But the broad criteria for awarding the vouchers gives Makary and other FDA officials unprecedented discretion in deciding which companies will benefit from the sped-up reviews.
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Dr. Marty Makary, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, speaks in the Oval Office of the White House during an event with President Donald Trump, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The apparent leader of a failed coup in Benin was on the run and the fate of hostages remained unclear a day after a group of soldiers attempted to overthrow the government of the West African nation.
The soldiers calling themselves the Committee for Refoundation stormed the national television station early Sunday morning. Led by Benin army officer Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri, eight soldiers appeared in a broadcast announcing the removal of President Patrice Talon, dissolution of the government and suspension of all state institutions.
By Sunday afternoon, the coup was foiled by Benin's military, supported by Nigerian air and ground forces, which launched a series of attacks against fleeing mutineers. At least a dozen soldiers were arrested while others remained at large Monday. Tigri's whereabouts were not known.
Talon described the coup late Sunday as a “senseless adventure” and said the situation was under control. He vowed to punish mutineers and ensure the safety of hostages, including some believed to be senior military officers. He did not disclose their identities or the number of casualties and hostages.
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres on Sunday condemned the attempted coup, saying it would “further threaten the stability of the region.”
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu praised Nigeria's armed forces for standing “as a defender and protector of constitutional order in the Republic of Benin on the invitation of the government.”
The Economic Community of West African States, the organization representing the regional bloc of nations, said Sunday it had deployed a standby force to Benin to help preserve democracy. The troops included personnel from Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone. The size of the force remains unclear.
Calm returned Monday to Cotonou, Benin's administrative center, after sporadic gunshots were heard across the city throughout Sunday, but there a heavy presence of soldiers remained on the streets.
Despite a history of coups following its independence from France in 1960, the tiny country has enjoyed uninterrupted democratic rule in the past two decades.
The attempted coup is the latest in a spate of coups that have rocked West Africa since 2020. Soldiers seized power last month in Guinea-Bissau after disputed election results, following Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Guinea and Gabon among the countries that have experienced similar takeovers in the past five years.
Soldiers ride in a military vehicle along a street amid an attempted coup in Cotonou Benin, Sunday Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo)
Soldiers ride in a military vehicle along a street amid an attempted coup in Cotonou Benin, Sunday Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo)
People on motorcycles pass by soldiers guarding a street amid an attempted coup in Cotonou Benin, Sunday Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo)
People gather near a roadway amid an attempted coup in Cotonou, Benin, Sunday Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo)
FILE - Benin's President Patrice Talon attends a meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, on May 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)
