Ophthalmic products are regulated under quality standards published in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), United States Pharmacopeia (USP), and various US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidance. Application of these standards has recently been affected by the legal requirement for the FDA to standardize the regulatory approach to ophthalmic products whose components are considered devices. The agency communicated the update through a guidance outlining the phase-i...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday issued a draft guidance on clinical pharmacology considerations for sponsors interested in developing antibody-drug conjugates (ADC). There is currently no guidance addressing these drugs, said the agency.   The guidance provides recommendations for ADCs, which are defined as an antibody or antibody fragment conjugated to at least one payload molecule via a chemical linker for treating cancer. They are regulated as ...

Pharmaceutical industry trade groups and medical device groups objected to the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) plans to reclassify some products, including imaging agents, currently regulated as drugs to devices, in implementing a recent court decision. The Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM) says that the agency’s implementation of the order is hasty and has no legal merit, while the Advanced Medical Technology Association (ADVAMED) pointed out that compani...

The US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Office of Generic Drugs (OGD) has announced its science and research priorities for fiscal year (FY) 2022 to spur the development of complex generic drugs. The priorities were prompted by public feedback the agency received at a public workshop earlier this year.   The agency also announced the availability of fellowships and funding for research activities that are aligned with these priorities.   The workshop was held i...

Feature articles during October included an in-depth look at the linguistic review process in Europe and  reviews of the regulatory pathways for herbal medicinal products, medical devices, and supplements in the EU and for advanced therapies in the Asian-Pacific region. Also included was an article on the challenges of data integrity remediation in cGMP facilities.   Linguistic review and herbal product regulation The linguistic review process for centrally authori...

This article compares and contrasts the regulatory requirements for herbal medicinal products, herbal-based medical devices, and botanical food supplements in the EU. It provides an overview of the current framework, highlights areas of controversy, and presents recent regulatory developments. The article is the first of two on this topic. The current article presents the definitions, main regulations, and documentation requirements for placing the products on the market;...

The US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) has told Intarcia Therapeutics it is proposing to refuse a new drug application for their type 2 diabetes drug-device combination product ITCA 650.   In a notice posted in the Federal Register , the agency said Intarcia can request a hearing from FDA on the proposal, but if the hearing is waived or it is determined the reason for the hearing isn’t sufficient, FDA will move forwa...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday released the commitment letter outlining performance goals and procedures for the upcoming reauthorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments for FYs 2023-2027 (PDUFA VII).   The agency also announced a public meeting on the reauthorization, scheduled for the afternoon of 28 September. Registration for the meeting, which will be held virtually, is free.   Many of the concepts and programs the agency di...

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a guideline on the quality information that manufacturers of combination products should submit in marketing authorization applications (MAA).   It also incorporates the recent revision of the EU’s Medical Devices Regulations (MDR) in requiring makers of these products to obtain the results of conformity testing of the device part from a notified body. The MDR regulation went into effect in May 2021. (RELATED: EMA Kicks...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday says it is requiring new safety warnings for hydroxyethyl starch (HES) products in light of reports of death, kidney injury and excessive bleeding associated with these products.   HES treatments are used to stabilize patients experiencing severe blood loss. The announcement follows up on an FDA safety review of these products from randomized clinical trials, meta-analyses, and observational studies. Through this re...

The US Food and Drug Administration has issued new draft guidance for clinical trials examining the adhesion performance of transdermal and topical delivery systems (collectively, TDS) for new drug applications.   Surface area is an important variable in determining the amount of drug delivered through a TDS; adhesion performance can affect both safety and effectiveness of TDS products because adhesion failures can result in reduced effectiveness caused by suboptimal d...

With few comprehensive resources available covering combination products, RAPS’ recently released book, International Combination Products , by Jocelyn Jennings, MS, RAC (US, Drugs, Devices), fills a significant need for practical guidance on navigating the regulatory pathways for products combining multiple technologies. Prior to writing the book, “there was no place that I found that I could look to find all of the information I was interested in on different topics t...