In a recently published white paper (registration required), Steven Richter, a former FDA official and President and Chief Scientific Officer of Microtest Labs, discusses the regulatory challenges facing combination products. The market for combination products is growing such that it is estimated to reach approximately …
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision in Long Island Care At Home, Ltd. v. Coke, a case concerning compensation for in-home caregivers and the Department of Labor’s (“DOL’s”) interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The Court’s decision, although anticipated, …
On June 20, 2007, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued a decision in Washington University vs. Catalona affirming the District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri’s holding that neither the medical researcher nor the contributing patients have any ownership …
Our “blogfather” over at the Orange Book Blog already has a preliminary post up about the recent victory in the district court by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis over Apotex relating to the enforceability and validity of the patent on the active ingredient in Plavix. Long …
In chemistry, enantiomers are stereoisomers that are non-superimposable complete mirror images of one another. Enantiomers may be either “right-handed” (dextro-rotary) S(+)-isomers, or “left-handed” (levo-rotary) R(-)-isomers. A racemic mixture is one that has equal amounts of “left- and right-handed” enantiomers of a particular chiral molecule. For …
The Supreme Court once famously characterized the risk-benefit analysis for approving new drugs as follows: “[A] drug is effective if it fulfills, by objective indices, its sponsor’s claims of prolonged life, improved physical condition, or reduced pain. . . . [A] drug is unsafe . …
In a previous post, we reported on an assessment conducted by the Analysis Group, Inc. on the effects of authorized generics on paragraph IV patent certifications. There, the authors concluded that “[t]here is no evidence to suggest that authorized generic entry causes delayed generic entry.” …
There is a wise political maxim, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” Not to be fooled a second time, the U.S. Senate has passed legislation that would, if enacted, make significant changes in the way FDA handles so-called “generic …
We previously reported that Pfizer submitted a citizen petition (2007P-0110) and a petition for stay of action (2007P-0111) requesting that FDA take certain action with respect to Novartis’s LOTREL (amlodipine besylate; benazepril HCl) subsequent to Pfizer’s decision to revoke (as of midnight March 25, 2007) …
Earlier this week, FDA announced the availability of a draft guidance for industry, titled “Bioequivalence Recommendations for Specific Products.” The draft guidance describes a new process by which FDA will provide, via the Internet, recommendations on how to design product-specific bioequivalence (“BE”) studies to support …
On May 22, 2007, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”), a self-described non-profit public policy organization dedicated to advancing the principles of free enterprise and limited government, published a report, titled “Healthy Competition: The Case for Generic and Follow-On Biologics.” The report, authored by Gregory Conko, …
On May 10, 2007, FDA announced the availability of a draft guidance for industry –“Protecting the Rights, Safety, and Welfare of Study Subjects – Supervisory Responsibilities of Investigators.” The draft guidance document is intended to help investigators meet their responsibilities with respect to protecting human …
Last Friday, FDA announced the Agency’s plans to take enforcement action against firms marketing unapproved drug products in timed-release dosage forms containing guaifenesin, a commonly used expectorant drug. On May 29, 2007, FDA published a Federal Register notice to this effect. FDA’s latest action is …
In a recently-released report on the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries’ relationship with FDA, a significant number of representatives surveyed responded that user fees have not succeeded in decreasing approval times. The report, “Improving America’s Health IV: A Survey of the Working Relationship between …
Our colleague John Fleder has just written an article for FDLI Update that outlines the agencies and offices that get involved in decisions to commence FDA enforcement actions, such as Warning Letters, seizures, injunctions (consent decrees), and criminal prosecutions. Mr. Fleder, who used be the …
