By David B. Clissold – On May 10, 2016, FDA published in the Federal Register the final “deeming regulation” asserting control over all tobacco products, even products that do not yet exist, meeting the broad statutory definition of a “tobacco product.” Under the Family Smoking Prevention …
By Kurt R. Karst – There are general life certitudes, such as the quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” There are also FDA certitudes we’ve come to recognize. For example, “everything eventually goes generic” …
By James E. Valentine & Josephine M. Torrente – In March, FDA published a draft guidance document that describes FDA’s approach to the implementation of the statutory provision in section 7002(e) of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (BPCI Act) under which an …
By James E. Valentine & Alexander J. Varond – FDA recently issued draft guidance, entitled “Special Protocol Assessment,” which, when finalized, will replace FDA’s 2002 final guidance by the same title. At 23-pages long, the draft guidance is much more thorough than its predecessor (only 11 …
By Etan J. Yeshua – Today, FDA officially announced the availability of a final guidance document that answers questions about the Agency’s menu labeling rule. In doing so, FDA also set May 5, 2017 as the rule’s enforcement date. Although there are only a few differences …
By Riëtte van Laack & Wes Siegner – Under the FDC Act, dog and cat food products that are intended to treat or prevent disease and to provide nutrients in support of the animal’s daily nutrient needs can be regulated as drugs or foods or both. …
By Kurt R. Karst – Speculating about the prospects that FDA will grant a period of marketing exclusivity – 5-year New Chemical Entity (“NCE”) exclusivity, 3-year new clinical investigation exclusivity, 7-year orphan drug exclusivity, or any other type of exclusivity or add-on exclusivity – upon the …
By Anne K. Walsh – A drug or device company (or its officers, management, or employees) who are the target of a False Claims Act lawsuit or investigation face the potential threat of being excluded from Medicare, Medicaid, and other Federal health care programs. For a …
By Riëtte van Laack – Last year (October 2015), POM Wonderful LLC (POM) petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for review of the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (see our previous post here). As we discussed, POM’s arguments in its …
By Kurt R. Karst – On April 29, 2016, Represetatives Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Morgan Griffith (R-VA) announced the introduction of H.R. 5127, the “Curb Opioid Misuse by Advancing Technology (COMBAT) Act.” The COMBAT Act is the latest effort by Congress to incentivize the development of …
By Jay W. Cormier – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently announced that it would be suspending drug manufacturing at two of its facilities after preliminary findings by two outside consulting groups found that certain sterile products were not manufactured in compliance with GMP quality …
By Kurt R. Karst – On April 27, 2016, Eagle Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Eagle”) filed a Complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that FDA violated the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) when the Agency refused to grant periods of 7-year orphan drug …
By Kurt R. Karst – Disputes involving non-patent marketing exclusivity available to 505(b)(1) and 505(b)(2) NDA applicants – either 5-year New Chemical Entity (“NCE”) exclusivity, 3-year new clinical investigation exclusivity, or 7-year orphan drug exclusivity – have increased dramatically over the past few years, and there’s …
The short answer to that question is “No,” says Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C.’s Jeffrey K. Shapiro in an article published in the March/April 2016 issue of the Food and Drug Law Institute’s Update Magazine. Mr. Shapiro examines the Department of Justice’s recent criminal prosecution of …
By Ricardo Carvajal – The would-be marketer of a probiotic suppository submitted a citizen petition (Docket No. FDA-2016-P-1133) to FDA asking the agency to “amend the definition of dietary supplement under the present statutory authority [of DSHEA] and to treat probiotic suppositories the same as oral probiotic …
