For those of us in regulated industry, we all treat guidance from FDA with as much reverence as the tablets that Moses carried down from Mt Sinai. However, for those of us who are not employed by FDA, the processes underlying the issuance of these guidances is very opaque and mysterious, and, for those involved […]
The FDA issued its Fiscal Year (FY) GDUFA Science and Research Report last week (read the full report here and the awarded research contracts and grants here). A review of the innovative scientific focus areas helps those of us in the industry to get a sense of where the FDA is headed in support of […]
The use of contract manufacturers for the production of approved drug products has become more and more commonplace, particularly with the steady increase through the years of virtual pharmaceutical companies, a business model where the majority of the drug development and production work is outsourced to third parties as needed. While the use of a […]
Our own Keith Webber originally provided very detailed information and helpful hints in his August 2019 blog (here) regarding FDAs transition of certain NDAs to BLAs under the BPCI Act. So, although this may not be “new” news, we think it’s worth a quick trip down memory lane, as the implementation date quickly approaches. Let’s […]
In earlier blogs, we have written about specific technical items related to identity testing. However, a review of Warning Letters published on the US FDA website for the months of December 2019 and January 2020, revealed three Warning Letters citing instances of failures to perform identity testing of active pharmaceutical ingredients prior to the manufacturing […]
The FDA’s Office of Pharmaceutical Quality (OPQ) is the group within the FDA that defines the quality requirements for all human drugs under its umbrella (filed as NDAs, ANDAs, BLAs, 351(k)/Biosimilars, and OTC products). The group issued its 2019 Annual Report just this month (read the full report here) that includes a look back […]
The FDA released its most current version, its “Guidance Agenda: New & Revised Draft Guidances: CDER Plans to Publish During Calendar Year 2020,” yesterday and there are some interesting things for generic and new drugs. The complete document can be viewed here, but we will highlight some of what we believe might be the most […]
In a January 14, 2020 Drug Safety Communication (here), FDA discusses an alert to patients taking the weight loss drugs Belviq or Belviq XR (lorcaserin) of a potential increase in the risk of cancer. The NDA drug products were approved on July 27, 2012 (immediate-release) and July 15, 2016 (extended-release version), respectively. The Agency notes […]
The Agency issued two warnings today, one about a recall due to a drug-strength labeling error for Mirtazapine and the other regarding a potential serious adverse event, breathing difficulties, associated with the use of gabapentinoids. It appears that there was a label mix-up with a single lot of Mirtazapine and “Aurobindo Pharma USA, Inc. is […]
The Q&A document addresses a number of frequently asked questions about the Pre-Launch Activities Importation Request (PLAIR) process, and when you can or cannot use a PLAIR for importing unapproved drug product into the United States. Quite interestingly, there are quite a few answers of “no” to the FAQs, which likely demonstrates that firms have […]
