• where experts go to learn about FDA
  • Sara W. Koblitz

    • Court Decides FDA Can’t Regulate Device as DrugDecember 9th, 2019

      The distinction between a drug and a device is a critical one: drugs and devices are subject to different regulatory schemes, with the drug pathway being significantly more onerous and expensive.  User fees alone for a generic drug total $300,000 for the first year compared …

    • Hot Sticky Sweet: FDA Provides Advice on Biosimilar Applications for InsulinDecember 5th, 2019

      As we move in to 2020, FDA is fastidiously preparing for the event 10 years in the making: the transition.  For those of you unfamiliar with the “transition,” it refers to the “deemed to be a license” provision of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation …

    • Teeth, They Must Be Very Much Worthwhile: GAO Report on REMS Abuses Notes Lack of Agency EnforcementNovember 20th, 2019

      The Government Accountability Office released a new Report last week focusing on the oft-analyzed tactics used by some innovator or brand-name pharmaceutical manufacturers to keep generic versions of products off the market.  Like some facets of then-Commissioner Gottlieb’s Drug Competition Action Plan, the GAO Report …

    • Is California Dreamin? Reverse Payment Agreements Presumptively AnticompetitiveSeptember 18th, 2019

      Following the recent trend of state intervention where federal legislative action has failed, California passed a bill last week discouraging patent infringement settlements that delay drug competition.  Pay-for-delay settlements or “reverse-payment agreements” arise when the RLD-sponsor pays the putative generic sponsor to drop any Paragraph …

    • Dust Yourself Off and Try Again: GAO Report On ANDA Approval Shows that Multiple Review Cycles Are Still Often NecessaryAugust 9th, 2019

      Over the last few years, FDA has clearly prioritized efficient generic development (see, for example, the Drug Competition Action Plan).  While FDA hosted public meetings, published MAPP revisions, and compiled lists of off-patent/off-exclusivity drugs, Congress reauthorized the Generic Drug User Fee Act in 2017 and …

    • Go for It! (Connect) Paragraph IV! FDA Revamps ANDA Paragraph IV Certifications ListJune 19th, 2019

      The Paragraph IV certification list on FDA’s website is a very useful tool for generic drug manufacturers in evaluating the potential for 180 day exclusivity for any given product. The list generally describes drug products for which one or more substantially complete ANDA containing a paragraph …

    • Anything You Can Do I Can Do (Better?): Demonstrating Biosimilar InterchangeabilityMay 16th, 2019

      FDA recently finalized its guidance document intended to assist protein biosimilar manufacturers in demonstrating interchangeability, Considerations in Demonstrating Interchangeability With a Reference Product.  Interchangeability, as of now, is nothing more than a pipe dream; no biosimilar has been declared interchangeable and therefore fully substitutable for …

    • And if They Don’t Dance, Well They’re No Friends of Mine – And They’ll Probably Get SuedMay 8th, 2019

      As FDA continues to approve biosimilar drug products, and as sponsors participate – or rather choose not to participate – in the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (“BPCIA”) version of the patent dance, more questions arise about the remedies reference product sponsors have when …

    • You Don’t Change Horses in Mid-Stream: Product-Specific GuidancesMay 7th, 2019

      As you may have noticed, FDA recently unveiled a new website.  As part of this redesign, FDA “enhanced” the Product-Specific Guidances (“PSG”) for Generic Drug Development web page.  The “enhanced” version of the website includes new database and search function features, export features, and paginated …

    • In a Parallel Universe: FDA Authorizes First REMS “Parallel System”April 3rd, 2019

      As we discussed last summer, FDA has recognized that negotiations surrounding the development of a Single, Shared System REMS may fail, and, to that end, issued a guidance detailing the Agency’s waivers process.  Now, the market has borne the fruits of that labor in the …

    • A Doggone Shame for Vanda: DC District Court Grants FDA’s Remand Motion on Dog Study/IND Clinical Hold ChallengeMarch 19th, 2019

      About 6 weeks after Vanda filed its complaint, the company’s lawsuit has joined its clinical trial: on hold.  Last week, the District Court of D.C. granted FDA’s motion for a voluntary remand of the case challenging FDA’s requirement to perform 9-month large animal studies prior …

    • Let’s Play Name That Biosimilar!March 12th, 2019

      Ok, Tom, I think I can name that biosimilar in four letters!  Added on to the suffix!  And let’s make it interesting: it’s an interchangeable. As a follow-up to its 2017 Guidance for Industry: Nonproprietary Naming of Biological Products, FDA issued a new draft guidance filling …

    • Vanda Has A Bone to Pick with FDA: Dog StudiesFebruary 22nd, 2019

      As avowed dog-lovers and FDA law enthusiasts, a recent Complaint filed in the District Court of D.C. caught our attention.  Vanda Pharmaceuticals filed a Complaint on February 6, 2019 alleging that FDA’s insistence that Vanda perform a 9-month dog study with its drug candidate tradipitant …

    • You Down With CGT?February 18th, 2019

      Yeah, you know me. Given Commissioner Gottlieb’s clear proclivity for blog posts with song titles rather than Orange Book puns, we’ll stick with those for a while. We just hope the Commissioner likes early 1990s rap as much as he likes rock from the 1970s …

    • Orange You Glad We Didn’t Make an Orange Book Pun?February 4th, 2019

      In yet another step to address drug pricing, Commissioner Gottlieb announced last week several new initiatives, including an update to the revered Orange Book.  Cue the crazy Muppet arms!  Proclaiming the Orange Book update a “transparency initiative,” FDA expects that this undertaking will “provide greater …