The 21st Century Cures Act (Act) was passed by the House on November 30, 2016 and the Senate on December 7, 2016. The President signed it into law on December 13, 2016. The Act contains three primary titles that address acceleration of medical product discovery, …
By James E. Valentine – In what can only be described as a success story, FDA’s Patient-Focused Drug Development (“PFDD”) initiative has opened the doors to hundreds of patients, caregivers, and other patient representatives to share their experiences with their diseases and conditions with FDA. This …
By James E. Valentine & David C. Clissold – Nearly two years after releasing its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”), and with about 900 comments from the public to consider, the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) has published its Final Rule on clinical trials registration and …
By Alexander J. Varond – One day before the program’s sunset, President Obama signed a bill to temporarily reauthorize the rare pediatric disease priority review voucher program for 3 months. The program has had significant interest from industry, and the program’s extension on September 30 was …
By Alexander J. Varond – Late last week, the Senate voted unanimously to extend the rare pediatric disease voucher program until December 31, 2016. In doing so, it also voted to amend the definition of “rare pediatric disease” set forth in Section 529 of the Federal …
By Alexander J. Varond – FDA’s rare pediatric disease priority review voucher program is set to expire on October 1. If this happens, FDA will no longer award pediatric vouchers to otherwise eligible sponsors. Expiration of the pediatric voucher program would mean the end (at least …
By Jay W. Cormier – As readers of this blog may recall, FDA observed remarkable conditions at two facilities on the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD (see our post here). Then, earlier this year, NIH stated again that it was closing its drug manufacturing facilities (see …
A breakthrough paper by Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C’s Frank Sasinowski and Alexander Varond concerning FDA’s Subpart H approvals has just published in the Food and Drug Law Journal. Titled “FDA’s Flexibility in Subpart H Approvals: Assessing Quantum of Effectiveness Evidence,” the paper examines the …
By Karla L. Palmer – FDA posted a “Notice” on July 12, 2016, advising compounding pharmacies regulated under Section 503A that, effective August 1, 2016, FDA is changing inspection procedures for Section 503A pharmacies (see Notice here). FDA announced that it now will make a “preliminary assessment” whether compounders …
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 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 – Ever since FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert M. Califf's February 2016 call for a sweeping review of FDA policies concerning opioids (in response to growing pressure from Congress), the Agency has been on a tear to meet that call with new policies and requirements. There's the recent announcement …
By Alexander J. Varond – FDA’s breakthrough therapy designation (BTD) program has been, by all accounts, a popular program. Sponsors, looking to gain extra support from the Agency, shorten review times, and signal to investors that FDA views their preliminary clinical evidence favorably, have submitted over …
By James E. Valentine – Last month, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the independent, nonpartisan agency that provides auditing, evaluation, and investigative services to Congress, publicly released the findings of a report on FDA’s handling of drug postmarket safety oversight. As reflected in the title of the …
By James E. Valentine – On January 13, 2015, CDER’s Clinical Outcome Assessments Staff (formerly Study Endpoints and Labeling Development (SEALD)) announced the launch of Stage 1, or the pilot stage, of its Clinical Outcomes Assessment (COA) Compendium. A COA measures patients’ symptoms, overall mental state, or …
