January 29, 2026
1:00 pm ET - 3:30 pm ET
Location:
hybridThe HALT Fentanyl Act, Increasing Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research; Declaration of Taipei
January 29, 2026 @ 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm EST
The Research, Development, and Regulatory Roundtable (R3) is a forum to discuss pre-competitive issues in drug and device development, regulatory oversight of clinical trials, and human subjects research. Meetings convene policymakers, legal counsel, academicians, industry representatives, and global regulators. The R3 is a cooperative endeavor coordinated by the MRCT Center and Ropes & Gray LLP.
This hybrid meeting is open to sponsors of the Research, Development, and Regulatory Roundtable.
Topics: (1) The HALT Fentanyl Act and its effect on research involving controlled substances; (2) Executive Order on Increasing Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research; (3) Declaration of Taipei
- HALT Fentanyl Act and Research. On July 16, 2025, President Trump signed the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl (“HALT Fentanyl”) Act into law. The law permanently reclassifies “fentanyl-related substances” into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”), and much of the political commentary and media attention related to the legislation have focused on this specific provision and its potential impact on the nation’s fentanyl crisis. However, the HALT Fentanyl Act also contains numerous significant reforms related to research activities with controlled substances, including provisions streamlining the process for conducting research with any Schedule I controlled substance. We will discuss takeaways from the HALT Fentanyl Act that drug developers, academic medical centers, research institutions, and others involved in nonclinical or clinical research with controlled substances should consider for their ongoing and future research activities.
- Executive Order on Increasing Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research. On December 18, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that may breathe new life into efforts to move marijuana to a less restrictive schedule under the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”). Executive Order 14370, entitled “Increasing Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research” (the “EO”), recognizes that marijuana’s historical position in schedule I—the most restrictive of the CSA’s schedules—has hampered research, and it urges the Attorney General to complete the ongoing rulemaking process to move marijuana to schedule III. The EO also directs further action by the administration to facilitate medical research and improve access to certain hemp products. We will discuss the specifics of the Executive Order and what it may mean for researchers conducting research on marijuana and cannabidiol products. The discussion will be led by Ropes & Gray partners Josh Oyster and David Peloquin, who co-authored a short alert on the topic earlier this year.
- The Declaration of Taipei is an ethical guideline by the World Medical Association (WMA) and was adopted in 2016, for the collection, storage, and use of health data, biological materials, and health databases and biobanks. A meeting is taking place in December 2025 in Taipei, Taiwan, to discuss revisions to the Declaration of Taipei. Barbara Bierer is attending this meeting and will lead a discussion of key changes to the Declaration that were discussed at the meeting.
For more information, please email at MRCT@BWH.HARVARD.EDU
Deliverables
