By James E. Valentine* – On August 17, 2015, FDA announced the availability of an update to its 11 year old guidance on botanical drug development. Botanicals are plant materials, algae, macroscopic fungi, and combinations of those things that can be regulated as a food (including a …
By Kurt R. Karst – Earlier this month, legislation was introduced in both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives to fund FDA for the next fiscal year: Fiscal Year 2016. Both the Senate bill and the House bill, titled “Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and …
By Alexander J. Varond – In a recent FDA Voice blog post, titled “More Collaboration, Research Needed to Develop Cures,” FDA discusses the speed of drug discovery and development. The blog post also references a white paper released the same day, titled “Targeted Drug Development: Why …
By Alexander J. Varond – On July 10, 2015, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the 21st Century Cures Act. In all, there were 344 “yes” votes and only 77 “no” votes, with half of the “yes” votes coming from Republicans and the other half coming …
By James C. Shehan – On July 9, 2015, Representatives Matt Salmon (R- AZ), Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) introduced H.R. 3012, the Right to Try Act of 2015. The bill seeks to expand the access of terminally ill patients to experimental drugs in …
By James E. Valentine* – The enactment of FDASIA, including the fifth reauthorization of PDUFA, really put patient engagement on the radar beyond some of the traditionally active disease communities (e.g., HIV/AIDS, cancer, neurological diseases). FDASIA’s section 1137, the provision on Patient Participation in Medical Product …
By Kurt R. Karst & Josephine M. Torrente – An article recently published in The BMJ (formerly known as the British Medical Journal), titled “Comparison of content of FDA letters not approving applications for new drugs and associated public announcements from sponsors: cross sectional study,” and …
By Kurt R. Karst – On May 19th, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce took up consideration of the 21st Century Cures Act. The bill, H.R. 6, is a 309-page behemoth that was officially introduced on May 19th, and is the fourth iteration of the …
By James E. Valentine* & Alexander J. Varond – After giving us a few months to shake our sticks at the nearly 400-page 21st Century Cures Act (the Cures Act) discussion draft, the House Energy and Commerce Committee (the Committee) dropped a 200-page version that was …
By James E. Valentine* – In late April 2015, FDA’s Bioresearch Monitoring (“BIMO”) Program released its annual report on inspections from the previous fiscal year. BIMO is FDA’s multi-center compliance program for on-site inspections and data audits to monitor all aspects of FDA-regulated research, domestically and …
On April 27, 2015 the Drug Information Association journal, Therapeutic Innovation and Regulatory Science, published the findings of a study conducted by HP&M Attorneys Frank J. Sasinowski and James E. Valentine*, along with co-author, Erika B. Panico, RAC, head of U.S. Regulatory Affairs for Chiesi …
In a new guidebook published by the Food and Drug Law Institute, David B. Clissold and James E. Valentine of Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C. co-authored Chapter 3-1, “FDA Regulatory Scheme,” and Alexander J. Varond authored Chapter 3-7, “Orphan Drugs.” Both chapters cover essential elements of …
By James E. Valentine* & Josephine M. Torrente – During FDA’s April 1, 2015 public workshop on clinical outcome assessments (COAs), in a presentation on the future of COA development and utilization in drug development programs, officials from CDER’s Study Endpoints and Labeling Development (SEALD) staff …
By Alexander J. Varond – After six years of operating under its May 2009 “Guidance for Industry: Formal Meetings Between the FDA and Sponsors of Applicants,” FDA refreshed its guidance. On March 11, FDA announced its draft guidance entitled “Formal Meetings Between the Food and Drug Administration and …
By James E. Valentine*, Josephine M. Torrente & Frank J. Sasinowski – On March 31, 2015, FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (“CDER” or the “Center”) finalized its Guidance for Industry: Critical Path Innovation Meetings, establishing an enduring function of the Center to facilitate Critical Path …
