The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday began posting decision summaries for its Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) waiver decisions for in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) as part of a pilot to boost transparency. FDA also updated its guidance on its administrative procedures for CLIA categorization for IVDs to reflect new commitments under the recently reauthorized Medical Device User Fee Amendments (MDUFA IV). So far, the agency has posted de...

The article discusses regulations and guidance for conducting bioavailability and bioequivalence studies required to obtain generic product approval across various markets. Included are comparative regulatory approaches for establishing bioequivalence of generic drugs to their corresponding reference drugs across various international jurisdictions, including Australia, Canada, EU, Japan and the US. Introduction 'Generic' drugs offer a significant cost saving and are ...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday finalized the second part of its question and answers guidance on issues related to the Generic Drug User Fee Amendments (GDUFA), including self-identification requirements, generic drug reviews, and inspections and compliance issues. The guidance, which finalizes a revised draft version released in September 2013, provides answers on more than 30 commonly asked questions on GDUFA implementation. While the draft g...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday said it is drafting and seeking comment on the use of standardized Pharmaceutical Quality/Chemistry Manufacturing and Control (PQ/CMC) data elements for electronic submission. FDA, which is considering implementing PQ/CMC requirements as a Health Level 7 (HL7) Structured Product Labeling (SPL) document, said the move to standardize PQ/CMC data elements and terminologies will improve the efficiency and quality of th...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday issued a draft questions and answers guidance to clarify expectations for using electronic systems, including electronic records, cloud computing and mobile technology, in clinical investigations. Specifically, the guidance provides 28 questions and answers detailing how drugmakers, clinical investigators, clinical research organizations (CROs) and institutional review boards (IRBs) can ensure such electronic systems m...

Beginning on 1 January 2018, Health Canada will only accept submissions for certain regulatory procedures in electronic common technical document (eCTD) format. As of that date, Health Canada says that sponsors must use eCTD format for all new drug submissions (NDS) and abbreviated new drug submissions (ANDS), as well as supplements to both submission types. The agency also notes that sponsors can request an exemption from the requirement for individual products, but sa...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is giving drugmakers an additional year before requiring master files to be submitted in electronic common technical document (eCTD) format. In a revised guidance released Friday, FDA says it is delaying the requirement for drug master files (DMF) and biological product files (BPF) to be submitted in eCTD format until 5 May 2018. Other documents, such as new drug applications (NDAs), abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) and...

Beginning 5 May, pharmaceutical, biologic and generic manufacturers will have to submit to the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) and Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) all New Drug Applications (NDAs), Biologics License Application (BLAs) and Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs) using the electronic Common Technical Document (eCTD). Drug Master Files (DMFs), Biological Product Files (BPFs)...

The group tasked with developing the standards for insurance claims forms on Wednesday recommended including unique device identifiers (UDI) on claims forms. Specifically, the Accredited Standards Committee X12 recommended that the device identifier portion of a UDI be included when high-risk devices are implanted or removed "due to safety concerns about premature failure." The recommendations are now undergoing a three-month consultation ending on 2 May 2017. Following...

The article provides an overview of the significance of technology in the regulatory compliance process and offers strategies for smarter compliance. Introduction Come May 2017, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will no longer accept submissions of drug applications that do not follow the electronic Common Technical Document (eCTD) format. This signifies further movement toward the use of technology in regulatory approvals and a key milestone in the modernizat...

This article provides information companies need when filing an Investigational New Drug (IND) a pplication  with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to help make the application process more efficient. It addresses common questions and concerns that develop across multiple companies and multidisciplinary groups. When is there a 30-day FDA review? After filing an IND application with FDA, there is a mandatory 30-day review period. 1 The purpose of this review i...

The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday finalized a question and answer (Q&A) guidance on using electronic systems to obtain informed consent for both HHS-regulated human research and FDA-regulated clinical investigations of medical products. The guidance focuses on procedures to be followed when using electronic informed consent (eIC) to help: Ensure prote...