The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has launched an initiative focused on existing patient registries, with the aim of seeing how they can be better used as a source of post-authorization data, and how they can help to establish new registries. Background EMA defines a registry as a system using observational methods over time to collect uniform data on a population defined by a particular disease, condition, or exposure. A disease registry includes patients bas...

Pharmaceutical and biotech companies are cheering a ruling issued earlier this week by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) that essentially adds up to a couple days' worth of patent protection to medicinal products, but could mean millions of Euros for the companies. The ruling is concerned specifically with Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs), which extend the duration of certain rights associated with a patent and are typically provided to compe...

The UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is launching a new office to promote market access for innovative products through early engagement with companies. A proposal and outline for the Office for Market Access (OMA) was approved by NICE's Board of Directors on 20 May 2015. Background When a new medicine is approved in the UK, NICE is responsible for conducting a health technology assessment (HTA) to measure its cost-effectiveness and determ...

Two US senators have proposed new legislation that would grant an unprecedented 15 years of marketing exclusivity to certain types of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical products. Background The bill, known as the Dormant Therapies Act of 2014, is the second piece of legislation introduced in as many days by Sens. Orrin Hatch and Michael Bennet (D-CO). The duo introduced the Promise for Antibiotics and Therapeutics for Health (PATH) Act on 10 December 2014. R...

Those who closely track so-called "Untitled Letters" authored and sent by the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP) know the letters most frequently reference promotions made over two types of media: the Internet and print media. But in an unusual letter sent last week by OPDP, the office indicated that it's still keeping an eye on promotions made using a decidedly traditional format: the telephone. An Untitled Letter In i...

When the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) goes after pharmaceutical companies for violating federal marketing regulations, it usually goes after makers of pharmaceuticals for humans. But as a recent and rare Warning Letter illustrates, sometimes veterinary companies fall under the agency's scrutiny as well. In a 2 April 2014 letter to AB Science , a French pharmaceutical manufacturer, FDA veterinary regulators cited the company for allegedly marketing its veterinar...

The China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) has released for public consultation a draft regulation that would tighten control of online sales of food and drugs. The rule will drug prohibit producers and wholesalers to sell products to online consumers, and will require sellers of food, health food, cosmetics, and medical apparatus and instruments to obtain permits. CFDA will crack down on false advertising, and information about certain drugs, including stu...

Watch a drug advertisement in the US-any one, really-and one thing you're unlikely to hear any mention of is the drug's cost. That's not always an accident, as the myriad of insurance companies, co-pays, state insurance programs, private assistance programs, coupons and other incentives mean that the true cost of a drug is rarely seen by consumers and is rarely the same for two people. But assume, for a moment, that such an instance existed-that a drug ("Drug A") cost ...

In the mid-1990s, when "The Internet" was still in its infancy and government institutions were just beginning to develop an online presence, the world got perhaps its most notable look at how some purveyors will seek to profit off of website confusion. Twenty years later, though, it's still a problem, including for US healthcare product regulators. Background The problem then, as now, is that many people aren't always sure about which domain name suffix- .com, .org, .g...

A new draft guidance document published by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is aimed at clarifying which information should be included in an investigational device exemption (IDE) application if the sponsor intends or anticipates including a "live case presentation" during the course of the clinical trial. Background Many high-risk (Class III) "significant risk" medical devices are subject to the premarket application (PMA) process, which requires sponsors to ...

If you weren't paying attention closely late last week, you might easily have missed a small but important announcement made by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). By the end of 2014, it says, it expects to be able to receive submissions referencing version 3.1 of the electronic Common Technical Document ( eCTD )-a change that will primarily affect regulated pharmaceutical marketing. Pharmaceutical Marketing Changes The announcement, made on its eCTD Validation ...

It may not be the social media guidance members of the pharmaceutical industry have be clamoring for, but the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today released a draft guidance document that offers some insight into how the agency thinks companies should use-and not use-social media channels. Background The pharmaceutical industry's advertising and promotional materials are tightly regulated by FDA and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the latter of which has veste...