FDA Finalizes Guidance on Mosquito-Related Products (Including Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes)

FDA finalized a guidance that clarifies FDA and EPA jurisdiction over mosquito-related products, including mosquitoes produced through the use of biotechnology.  FDA had issued the draft guidance as part of a batch of biotech-related documents that were released in the final days of the Obama administration (see our prior post here).

The final guidance takes greater pains to explain the factors that govern whether FDA or EPA have jurisdiction over a given product, and makes explicit the conclusion that “products intended to reduce the population of mosquitoes” are pesticide products regulated by EPA – regardless of “whether the product is a traditional chemical product or involves a different technology (e.g., a recombinant DNA construct or bacteria intended to reduce the population of mosquitoes)” (emphasis ours).  Consistent with that conclusion, FDA announced that Oxitec’s genetically engineered mosquito falls under EPA’s regulatory authority because it claims to control the population of a certain species of mosquito.  As we discussed in a prior posting, FDA had given a green light to investigational release of the Oxitech mosquito.  In accord with the final guidance, FDA will have no further involvement in the regulation of the Oxitech mosquito, absent a change in its intended use.