In 2014, to date, FDA has issued 9 Warning Letters to firms for failure to pay their Generic Drug User Fee Act (GDUFA) fees. The latest two letters were issued on August 26, 2014, but were posted to the CDER web page on September 8 and 16, respectively.
In another product safety alert, the FDA is warning patients, healthcare professionals and other caregivers not to use Eu Yan Sang (Hong-Kong) LTD’s “Bo Ying Compound” because tests have shown it contains high levels of lead. This announcement comes after a report of a case of lead poisoning in an 18-month old child given the product.
In a September 17, 2014 presentation at the FDA/PQRI Conference on Evolving Product Quality given by Susan Rosencrance, Ph.D., Acting Deputy Director, Generic Drug Chemistry in the Office of Pharmaceutical Science at CDER, a number of interesting issues were presented and discussed. Some of these issues may be a welcome sign to the industry of a turnaround at OGD, but others still need some explaining.
On September 17, 2014, FDA hosted the GDUFA Public Hearing on Policy Development. With quite a few generic firms of all sizes represented at the hearing, a series of recurring themes appeared to resound. Lack of communication and transparency from FDA and ever growing facility fees that stifle entry of small new players were the loudest complaints from the audience.
n September 16, 2014, the Office of Generic Drugs (OGD) posted its final Guidance on Refuse-to-Receive (RTR) Standards and also published an ancillary draft Guidance entitled ANDA Submissions – Refuse To Receive Standards for Lack of Proper Justification of Impurity Limits (which explains that proper justification for specified identified impurities above qualification thresholds and specified unidentified impurities and unspecified [unknown] impurities with limits above identification thresholds must be included in the ANDA or it will receive an RTR letter).
As FY 2014 draws to a close, the Office of Generic Drugs (OGD) has approved 45 ANDAs in August, the highest number for any month in this fiscal year, and through August 31 OGD has approved a total of 361 ANDAS thus far for this FY. In a repeat performance from last month, OGD reported receiving only 4 original ANDAs. Looks like firms are waiting for the October 1 to submit their ANDAs as the GDUFA metrics begin being applied to the cohort year 3 submissions.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report last month indicated that the cost of health care programs has slowed sharply. A large part of the savings is attributed to the cost savings realized through the use of generic drugs. This year’s GPhA Cost Savings report showed that consumers (including the US Government) saved $239 million alone in 2013 an increase of 14% over the savings seen in 2012. The 10 year savings from generic availability is reported at $1.5 trillion over the last 10 year period.
In a blog post on August 12, 2014, I raised the question of why there have been so many recalls of parenteral products related to visible particulate matter. There are a multitude of factors that lead to the formation of particulate matter, some of which have to do with formulation, some with storage, some with handling, some with manufacturing equipment and the like as was discussed in the blog referenced above.
As part of its GDUFA commitments the FDA has issued a Draft Guidance entitled Guidance for Industry – Controlled Correspondence Related to Generic Drug Development. FDA makes clear in this document that controlled correspondence (CC) does not include Citizen Petitions, petitions for reconsideration or stay requests.
The FDA’s paragraph IV (PIV) database is designed to give applicants and potential applicants information relative to first-to-file opportunities. FDA does this for two reasons: 1) it gives applicants assurance that their product is a first-to-file if the acknowledgement date (date acceptable for filing) on their letter from FDA officially receiving their application matches the date of submission in the PIV database. This has eliminated the many calls to the Office of Generic Drugs (OGD) to find out if their submitted application holds a potential first-to-file seat; 2) the listing also informs potential applicants that at least one ANDA has been submitted with a PIV certification and allows others to decide if they wish to enter the fray and expose themselves to litigation.
