The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking a scientific approach to evaluating direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertising, focusing on how to measure consumer perceptions of the information presented in ads.   In a recent Regulatory Science in Action article , the agency outlined findings from three studies looking at the role of images in advertising, the development of valid measures to assess perception of ads, and the likelihood that physicians and consume...

Industry groups and drugmakers are seeking further clarity from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on draft guidance related to the qualification of biomarkers. The draft from last December , which FDA emphasizes is a first draft, comes as FDA has qualified  eight biomarkers  and received  29 submissions . The draft notes that progress in biomarker qualification has been stymied by the lack of a clear, predictable and specific regulatory framework that lays out ...

Plans at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “modernize” the most commonly used pathway for new medical device clearances “might require new authority,” FDA leadership said on Monday. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb and Jeff Shuren, director of FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), issued a joint statement to announce 2018 progress on novel device approvals, pointing out that the breakthrough 510(k) is one of two submission types that was new...

A consensus of industry participants at a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) webinar on Thursday pressed for metrics on the medical device priority review program run by FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH). The webinar led by Maureen Dreher, policy analyst at CDRH’s Office of Device Evaluation, underscored the need for additional transparency around the Breakthrough Device Program. This request was supported across several participants during the ...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday finalized guidance detailing its breakthrough devices program and announced plans to bring safer medical device alternatives to market via a new safer technologies program (STeP).   “We continue to encourage device manufacturers to consider the breakthrough devices program for innovative, lifesaving devices, and, in the near future, our goal is to have STeP as an option for those devices with new advances and adaptat...

As William C. Putnam, PhD, RAC, argues in a  Regulatory Focus  thought piece  on the need for business skills within the regulatory profession, "regulatory professionals need to have a comprehensive understanding of business, such as the business acumen provided by extensive on-the-job training, professional development programs or formal business training."  Regulatory Strategy Critical for Business Success The reasons for this are pretty clear. Regulatory issues can ...

Experts within FDA's newly established Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) discussed the office's role in the first site-agnostic cancer treatment approval and programs for further advancing oncology-related regulatory science and policy. And in the concluding section of the article, the OCE experts note that FDA, which has typically approved companion diagnostics under a "one drug, one diagnostic" paradigm, is "likely to" shift to a "many drugs, a panel of diagnos...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday issued a draft guidance detailing the agency's new program for breakthrough medical devices created by the 21st Century Cures Act . The new breakthrough devices program supersedes and combines several of the agency's existing programs to speed access to new devices. "Earlier and more frequent interaction between the FDA and manufacturers … should allow manufacturers to make the best use of their resources to bring st...

The House Energy & Commerce's subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on Wednesday discussed the federal 340B drug discount program, which provides participating hospitals and other medical providers deep discounts on outpatient drugs.  Background In 1992, Congress created the 340B program to mandate that pharmaceutical manufacturers provide discounts for certain drugs, which can range between 25% and 50% for average wholesale prices. The Health Services and ...

In a set of newly released presentations, officials from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) explain changes to the agency's biomarker qualification program and detail early opportunities for biomarker developers to engage with FDA. "A qualified biomarker can be used in multiple drug development programs without the need for [the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research] CDER to reconfirm the suitability of the biomarker's qualified context of use," said Marianne No...

Speaking at RAPS' 2017 Convergence on Monday, officials from two international regulators and representatives from auditing organizations offered the latest on the Medical Device Single Audit Program (MDSAP). Background MDSAP is an effort by regulators in the Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan and the US to establish a single audit process, conducted by recognized third-party auditors, that can meet the requirements of regulators in each country. For manufacturers, MDSAP ...

The US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) will lead a pilot program to define characteristics of a device that are critical to product quality and how these characteristics are controlled in design and manufacturing prior to the postmarket inspection. The voluntary pilot, which will run from 29 September to 31 December 2018, invites firms submitting a Premarket Approval Application (PMA) to consider participating ...