Well, not really-but on April 12, 2016 (my birthday), the FDA’s Douglas Throckmorton, M.D., Deputy Director, Regulatory Programs, in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) gave a presentation (here) entitled, “FDA Regulation of Marijuana: Past Action, Future Plans.” It is quite interesting to note that FDA has been actively involved in the regulatory […]
In an unusual 12-0 vote, an FDA advisory panel recommended that the acne treatment adapalene gel 0.1% be switched to Over-the-Counter (OTC) use. If the FDA concurs, this will be another FDA approved product to join a number of OTC monograph products in the OTC market to treat acne.
While the number of data integrity (DI) findings have increased over the last few years, as evidenced by citations in a number of Warning Letters, the FDA stance on DI seems to have mellowed since the generic drug scandal of the late 1980s. The FDA guidance document (here) walks firms through their responsibilities in assuring […]
When reason does not win the day, use money! And that is just what Congress appears to be doing by keeping FDA from spending any appropriated funds on their controversial labeling rule that would permit generic manufacturers to revise their labeling to include new warnings. Our friends at RAPS had a nice article on this […]
In a recent speech given to the 2016 Opioid and Drug Abuse Summit, FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf outlined the FDA’s plans on addressing the opioid abuse epidemic and touched on a number of important and critical issues that underscore the tough job ahead of them. He emphasized that there needs to be a multipronged […]
The FDA has published a proposed rule regarding Time and Extent Applications (TEAs) that will establish timelines and metrics associated with their review. Just to remind you, a TEA is now the preferred option to add a product to an over-the-counter (OTC) monograph for products that were initially marketed in the United States after the […]
The integrity of data used to ensure the quality of drugs is paramount to a drug’s safety and efficacy and can have a great impact on public health. The topic of “Protecting and Promoting Data Integrity” was presented by Kathleen Culver from FDA (Field Investigator and Drug Preapproval Manager, FDA Cincinnati District), Tracy Moore (Senior GMDP Inspector and GMDP Operations Manager, MHRA), and Paul Vogel (Chairman, Lachman Consultant Services, Inc.) at the recent PharmaLink Conference, which was co-sponsored by Xavier Health and the FDA, held on March 16-17, 2016 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The key to developing a practical approach to all phases lies in the establishment of Critical Quality Attributes (CQA) for the drug product and assignment and monitoring of Critical Process Parameters (CPP) that have a direct effect on the performance of the process with regard to the CQA. At the PDA Annual Meeting last week, Scott Bazzone, Senior Manager of Quality Assurance Validation at Pfizer presented the approach that is used there with regards to establishing the risk significance or Z Score of a CPP to the CQA.
The Office of Generic Drugs (OGD) has updated its organization chart, but trying to figure out who is who in most of the OGD Office and Divisions remains a bit mysterious. Try to find the titles and position of many of the OGD staff and you kind of run into an electronic wall. Even if you know their names, their position and location within OGD, they are not easily discernible.
FDA issued an alert today telling healthcare professionals and patients not to use human and animal sterile drug product produced by a firm in Austin, Texas. After FDA inspection of the facility which found many objectionable conditions, the Agency recommended that the firm recall its products and cease production until the problems identified were corrected. […]
