One thing I've noticed recently, and which this approval today corroborates, is that ever since IRP approvals have been ramping up, the rate of regular national pathway approvals has been declining. Previously, it would be normal to see 2 or 3 national pathway approvals per month; since IRP approvals started rolling in (this past fall), there's been exactly 1 national pathway approval per month, along with a minimum of 1 IRP approvals per month. Also, the average time from first CHM meeting to approval has increased for the 4 national pathway medicines approved since November: ~295 days, compared to ~209 days for medicines approved over the past 2 years.
This is way too small of a sample size to draw any real conclusions from, but it is interesting to note.