• where experts go to learn about FDA
  • Year: 2022

    • This Thanksgiving, Be Thankful for Family and Food(borne Illness Prevention)November 23rd, 2022

      At the risk of ruining our readers’ appetite for America’s most food-focused holiday, foodborne illnesses have been a feature of Thanksgiving for some time now.  Some of us might still recall the 2017 salmonella outbreak linked to raw turkey products that caused over 279 infections, …

    • CDRH’s Plan to De-risk the Medical Device Valley of DeathNovember 21st, 2022

      As was introduced in our recent blog post summarizing the 2022 MedTech conference (here), FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) recently announced the launch of a new pilot program, the Voluntary Total Product Life Cycle (TPLC) Advisory Program (TAP) Pilot (see announcement attributed …

    • Is the Listing of REMS Patents in the Orange Book Patently Anticompetitive?November 18th, 2022

      FTC sure thinks so.  And the FTC said as much in a recent Amicus Brief (“Brief”) in paragraph IV litigation between Avadel CNS Pharmaceuticals (“Avadel”) and Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc. (“Jazz”).  This type of statement from the FTC is unprecedented; not only is the FTC Brief …

    • FDA Completes First Consultation for an Animal Cell-Cultured FoodNovember 17th, 2022

      FDA announced that it has completed the first pre-market consultation for an animal cell-cultured food, based on a safety assessment submitted by UPSIDE Foods. In an indication of the significance of this development, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf and CFSAN Director Susan Mayne issued a statement …

    • HPM Welcomes 15-Year DOJ Veteran, John W.M. Claud, to the FirmNovember 15th, 2022

      Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C. (“HPM”) is pleased to announce that John W.M. Claud has joined the firm as Counsel. Mr. Claud is a 15-year veteran of the Department of Justice, where most recently he was an Assistant Director of the Consumer Protection Branch overseeing …

    • Discounts Available! Submit a Small Business Certification Request Today for a Reduced Medical Device User FeeNovember 15th, 2022

      In our last blog post, we advised medical device companies to consider applying to FDA’s Small Business Program to help with the noticeably higher user fees for FY2023. In this blog post, we provide a primer on user fees and the Small Business Program. User Fees User …

    • FDA Draft Guidance: Everything You May Want to Know about OMUFA FeesNovember 14th, 2022

      Early Nov. 2022, FDA published a draft guidance on FDA’s implementation of the Over-the-Counter Monograph Drug User Fee Program (OMUFA). The draft guidance provides information regarding various aspects of the OMUFA program under sections 744L and 744M of the FDC Act,  as added by the …

    • Retail Inventory Services Settle for Employee Thefts from PharmaciesNovember 11th, 2022

      When you have followed Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”)/Department of Justice (“DOJ”) civil settlements for as long as we have, you cannot help but think that you’ve seen it all.  Then something novel comes along.  Unlike virtually all DEA/DOJ civil settlements that we are aware of, …

    • FUFRA Enacted; HP&M Issues Detailed Summary and AnalysisNovember 9th, 2022

      On September 30, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Continuing Appropriations and Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023, Division F of which is titled the “FDA User Fee Reauthorization Act of 2022” (“FUFRA”).   In addition to reauthorizing for an additional five fiscal years—Fiscal Years 2023-2027—several …

    • MedTech Conference DownloadNovember 9th, 2022

      At the latest MedTech conference held in Boston, MA from October 24-26, we heard from FDA officials and industry representatives on a range of topics. Below, we provide a snapshot of the three-day event: Update on the International Medical Device Regulators Forum (IMDRF) The IMDRF conference was …

    • CMS Finalizes Rule on Medicare Part B Discarded Drug RebatesNovember 8th, 2022

      On Friday, November 4, CMS finalized a rule to implement mandatory rebates (called “refunds”) for discarded amounts of separately paid Medicare Part B single-source drugs packaged in single-dose or single-use containers.  For a summary of the rule, we refer readers to our July 2022 post …

    • Could the Road to an AKS Violation Be Paved with Good Intentions? Pfizer Asks SCOTUSNovember 7th, 2022

      We previously blogged about Pfizer’s copay assistance lawsuit, which sought to challenge HHS’s interpretation of the Federal health care program anti-kickback statute (AKS) and position that the company’s proposed copay assistance program would violate the AKS.  Now, after an unfavorable HHS Office of the Inspector …

    • Avoid CMC Challenges by Thinking Slow, Not Fast-Discussions at USP’s WorkshopNovember 2nd, 2022

      On October 26, 2022, US Pharmacopeia (USP) Biologics Stakeholder Forum held a workshop on “Collaborating to solve CMC challenges and support efficient development of lentiviral-mediated CART cell therapies.”  Panelists discussed CMC challenges for CART therapies, including potency assay development, analytical method transfer, and demonstrating comparability.  …

    • FDA’s Pre-Cert Pilot Ends. Will there be a Sequel?November 1st, 2022

      FDA began the Software Precertification (Pre-Cert) pilot program in 2017 to evaluate an alternative approach to regulation of software as a medical device (SaMD) over the total product lifecycle (TPLC).  We have followed it over the last five years, with blog posts here, here, here, …

    • FDA Proposes Select Updates to the Breakthrough Devices Program Designed to Reduce Health Care DisparitiesOctober 31st, 2022

      On October 21, 2022, FDA published a draft guidance document titled Select Updates for the Breakthrough Devices Program Guidance: Reducing Disparities in Health and Health Care.  This draft guidance proposes updates to FDA’s Breakthrough Devices Program, which is outlined in a separate December 2018 guidance …