India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) implemented the New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules in 2019 to expedite the drug development and approval processes. This article provides an overview of those processes; explains the rule-specific terminology, such as the definitions of “drug” and “new drug” under Indian law; and outlines strategies for speeding up the approval processes and optimizing registration of prescription medicines in India.   Keywo...

The COVID-19 pandemic caused one of the most prominent displays of supply chain disruption in the modern era. However, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found ways to allow for regulatory flexibility by issuing guidance documents while still managing to protect consumers from adulterated and misbranded food.   Keywords – COVID-19 , FDA, food, guidance, pandemic, supply chain   Introduction The complexity of modern supply chains is never more eviden...

Both industry and clinicians asked the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for clarification related to the evaluation of cellular starting materials in its draft guidance on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell product development.   The public comments also sought more details on change management and how the guidance applies to other genetically modified products.   The draft guidance , issued on 15 March 2022, provides recommendations on chemistry, manufac...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued two guidances for industry: a final guidance on how to conduct food effect studies for oral drugs being considered for investigational new drug (IND) and new drug applications (NDAs), and a draft guidance outlining a current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) framework for preventing penicillin from cross contaminating non-penicillin beta-lactam drugs and compounds. Food effect studies   The final guidance on...

Welcome to another installment of This Week at FDA, your weekly source for updates – big and small – on FDA, drug and medical device regulation, and what we’re reading from around the web. This week, we get a glimpse at FDA’s Spring regulatory agenda and get tips on several upcoming guidances. Plus, we learn about a new 510(k) pilot program for CBER-regulated medical devices.   Next week, FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) will ...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday released draft guidance explaining its thought process for rescinding breakthrough therapy designation (BTD) during its evaluation of a drug.   While FDA has long asserted its authority to rescind or withdraw BTDs, the new guidance will add clarity for sponsors as to when the agency might revoke the designation. Since designation was created under the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act in 2012,...

Drugmakers and clinician organizations praised the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) recent draft guidance containing recommendations on developing a Race and Ethnicity Diversity Plan to improve enrollment of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in clinical trials. But in public comments, they also called for greater details on the types of data that should be used to assess adequate enrollment of these populations, how these diversity plans should be applied to...

Draft guidance from the US Food and Drug Administration on reporting medical device and diagnostic shortages for public health emergencies is too broad and potentially could be too resource intensive for manufacturers as well as regulators, representatives from medtech industry groups believe.   In January, the FDA published a draft guidance that outlines when and how the agency wants medtech manufacturers to alert the agency of potential product shortages that happen ...

A number of stakeholders have written to the US Food and Drug Administration about the agency’s recent draft guidance on how digital health technologies (DHT) could be used to conduct clinical trials remotely. Some have concerns about the agency too narrowly defining what products can be used for remote monitoring, while others argue it’s not broad enough. Some are also asking the agency to include smart packaging in the guidance.   In December, the agency published i...

India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) has relaxed the requirements for the restricted-use emergency authorization of COVID-19 vaccines that are already on the market in some overseas territories.   The change exempts developers of certain COVID-19 vaccines from the need to run post-approval bridging clinical trials and for every batch to undergo testing at the Central Drugs Laboratory at a site in Kasauli. CDSCO is granting the exemption to vaccin...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday issued 13 new and eight revised draft product-specific guidances intended to facilitate the development of generic drugs.   The guidances are intended to foster generic competition by clarifying the agency’s expectations for the studies required to demonstrate that a generic drug is equivalent to a reference listed drug (RLD). FDA’s current count of product-specific guidances sits at 1,896 with this latest release....

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday finalized guidance on its qualified infectious disease product (QIDP) designation program.   The 12-page guidance finalizes a draft version released for comment in 2018 and includes a revised question and answer section providing clarification on the types of products the agency considers to be antibacterial or antifungal drugs for the purposes of the designation. (RELATED: FDA Drafts Q&A Guidance on QIDP Designati...