• where experts go to learn about FDA
  • Dara Katcher Levy

    • Déjà Vu: OPDP Again Targets Provider Branded Website of Accelerated Approval Drug in Second Untitled Letter of 2025April 14th, 2025

      FDA’s Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP) issued its second Untitled Letter of 2025 to Taiho Oncology (Taiho) for a healthcare provider branded website for its drug LYTGOBI (futibatinib). This letter, dated March 21, 2025, cites Taiho’s false or misleading representations about the benefits of …

    • Every Claim You Make, Every Step You Take…CVM Will Be Watching YouApril 8th, 2025

      Promotional claims do not receive the most attention with respect to FDA enforcement these days, and veterinary promotion is no exception.  Indeed, most Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) Warning Letters arise because products advertised are actually new animal drugs.  But this year, CVM has issued …

    • SIUU-SIUU-Sudio: FDA Finalizes Guidance on SIUU and Distribution of Off Label InformationJanuary 22nd, 2025

      Who among us, upon reading FDA’s draft guidance on the distribution of off label information and their coining of the acronym SIUU (standing for Scientific Information on Unapproved Uses) did not automatically think of Phil Collins’ classic song Sussudio?  (Other than anyone under 50, that …

    • The Prophecy: How will the FDA under the New Trump Administration Handle OPDP Letters? (Jeff and Dara’s Version)November 13th, 2024

      We recently saw an interesting Instagram post aimed at Swifties disappointed in the election results.  It noted that Tay Tay released four albums during the first Trump administration and only two during the Biden administration, so there’s reason to hope for the next four years …

    • OPDP Says TV Ad is Out of Bounds with Fourth Untitled Letter of 2024September 18th, 2024

      FDA’s Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP) has issued its fourth Untitled Letter of 2024 – this one to AbbVie, Inc. (AbbVie), for a direct-to-consumer (DTC) TV advertisement for its drug UBRELVY (ubrogepant) that features tennis star, social media influencer and entrepreneur Serena Williams.  This …

    • It’s a Cruel Summer – Two New OPDP Untitled LettersAugust 12th, 2024

      FDA’s Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP) has issued two new Untitled Letters this summer after 5 months without any letter activity. The letters are vastly different from one another in subject matter, but together they make a cruel summer of OPDP enforcement against industry. …

    • FDA’s Revised Draft Guidance on Biological Product Promotion Provides Additional Recommendations/ClarificationsApril 26th, 2024

      On April 24, 2024, the FDA issued a revised draft guidance, Promotional Labeling and Advertising Considerations for Prescription Biological Reference Products, Biosimilar Products, and Interchangeable Biosimilar Products – Questions and Answers, (the “Revised Draft Guidance”) which replaces the Agency’s initial draft guidance issued in February …

    • OPDP’s One-Two Combo on Quantitative Efficacy Claims in DTC AdsDecember 19th, 2023

      It has been a few weeks, but we thought it important to do a deeper dive on the two Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP) Untitled Letters published in November.  The letters, both issued on October 31, 2023 but published in early November, were to …

    • From GRP to SIUU – the Evolution of FDA Guidance on Off-Label Dissemination of Scientific InformationOctober 24th, 2023

      Yesterday, FDA published a new Draft Guidance, “Communications from Firms to Health Care Providers Regarding Scientific Information on Unapproved Uses of Approved/Cleared Medical Products Questions and Answers” (SIUU Guidance or Draft Guidance).  Previous iterations of this guidance from 2009 and 2014 (blogged on here and …

    • OPDP Coming Out! New Untitled Letter, Old IssueAugust 23rd, 2023

      OPDP is coming out!  On the heels of a nuanced and more complicated Warning Letter addressing CFL claims and statistical presentations comes a new Untitled Letter from OPDP going back to its roots!  This most recent Untitled Letter to Exeltis alleges omission of risk information …

    • OPDP Comes out Swinging With A Warning Letter on Unsubstantiated EfficacyAugust 17th, 2023

      Well, if you, like many within industry, felt emboldened to disseminate promotional materials that may push the envelope on efficacy (so long as your risk information was tight) think again!  OPDP is back in the game, letting all the people know that they are back …

    • Lizzo has Thoughts: First Untitled Letter for Promotional Activities in a YearJune 14th, 2023

      After about a year without any untitled letters from OPDP, Xeris Pharmaceuticals received an untitled letter for their promotion for Recorlev (levoketoconazole) for misleading safety and efficacy claims.  To quote everyone’s favorite flautist (and TikTok sensation) Lizzo, “it’s about d@mn time!”  (Sorry for the bowdlerization, …

    • AMCP Format for Formulary Submissions Revision – Comment Period Now Open!June 5th, 2023

      The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP)’s Format Executive Committee is excited to let you know that after two years of work, version 5.0 of the Format for Formulary Submissions (also known as dossiers) is on the horizon.  And we need your feedback!  We’ve included …

    • A (Not So) New Avenue to Challenge Misleading Rx Promotion – NADJanuary 25th, 2023

      (Caution: Links in the first paragraph are a wild musical ride.  Click at your own risk) For those of you that review Rx ad/promo materials, it’s a familiar scenario:  Marketing has come to the Legal Department with significant concerns about competitor activities – consumers are being …

    • The PIE Act – A Win for Patients, Payors, and SponsorsJanuary 5th, 2023

      A win for patient access!   Prescription drug and medical device Pre-Approval Information Exchange (PIE) now has specific legal protection allowing for sponsors to proactively communicate to payors certain information about products in development to help expedite patient access upon product approval. The PIE Act, otherwise known …