Wabisabi, I cannot answer your question regarding the FDA...

Wabisabi, I cannot answer your question regarding the FDA receiving information about ongoing testing, but I am still looking that one up.
What I did find is an incredible piece about how the FDA came / comes about their clinical trials. In one page, (pages are unnumbered) it is said that the FDA should not be involved in any trials, so that they do not become objective during a possible event of that trial, and have an open mind to understanding the details of the trials themselves.

I would sure think that there IS a way for a New Drug to be shown as being important, but that may come from a paper from the Company themselves declaring success ("halfway thru" per se), based on what criteria the FDA demanded that they look for.

I just scanned the link, and need to look further into this, but it alone is a grate look into what happens and why it is designed that way. Cheers!

https://www.fda.gov/media/110437/download