By James C. Shehan – We’ve all been told that consistency is a virtue and some recent developments have AbbVie’s consistency on display while that company questions FDA’s biosimilar labeling morality, or at least decision-making. In a citizen petition supplement recently submitted to FDA, AbbVie renewed …
By Kurt R. Karst – Back in September 2013, when FDA’s Office of Generic Drugs (“OGD”) was gearing up for significant implementation of the Generic Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012 (“GDUFA”) (and the associated Performance Goals and Procedures), the Office issued a Manual of Policies …
By Kurt R. Karst – It seems that hardly a week passes (and sometimes, hardly a day or two) without news of a new merger or acquisition in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries. Indeed, 2015 may be a record-breaking year for such deals (see here, here, …
By James C. Shehan – In the latest Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 ("BPCIA") patent dance development, Amgen filed a lawsuit alleging that Apotex’s biosimilar of Neulasta (pegfilgrastim) infringes two Amgen patents, one about to expire composition of matter patent and one process …
By Kurt R. Karst – Earlier this week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland unsealed a 73-page Opinion handed down on July 29, 2015, along with an Order, in a challenge brought by Mallinckrodt Inc. (“Mallinckrodt”) last November after FDA downgraded from “AB” …
By Kurt R. Karst – There are few things this blogger relishes more in his practice than getting his hands on FDA exclusivity decisions. (It’s like being given and then unwrapping a holiday gift.) We don’t mean the “decisions” that most people see in ANDA approval letters …
By David C. Gibbons – On Friday, August 7, Judge Paul Engelmayer, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, handed down one of the most significant rulings concerning First Amendment protection for a pharmaceutical manufacturer’s off-label promotion of an otherwise approved drug. Judge …
By Kurt R. Karst – It’s that time of year again when FDA-regulated companies need to think about cracking open their checkbooks to pay FDA some pretty heft sums of cash for operations in the next fiscal year, and to plan ahead for submissions to …
By Kurt R. Karst – It’s been almost seven weeks since the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued its Opinion in Veloxis Pharmaceuticals. Inc. v. FDA, ___ F.Supp.3d ___, 2015 WL 3750672 (June 12, 2015), a challenge concerning the scope of 3-year new …
By Jay W. Cormier – On Monday, after seeking input from a number of large industry stakeholders and floating the idea for some time, FDA announced the availability of a Draft Guidance entitled “Request for Quality Metrics.” The Draft Guidance formally presents FDA’s current thinking and intentions …
By Kurt R. Karst – A “phantom” is defined, in part, to mean “an appearance or illusion without material substance, as a dream image, mirage, or optical illusion.” That’s probably the best way to sum up what’s at the heart of the issues raised by FDA …
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 James C. Shehan & Kurt R. Karst – On July 21, 2015, a fractured Federal Circuit issued its decision in the dispute between Amgen and Sandoz concerning various statutory issues under the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (“BPCIA”). In a result that few …
By Kurt R. Karst – As the years go by and nostalgia creeps in, we reminisce about the past and how things were “back then” (which to this blogger means the 1980s and 1990s). It’s not that things were necessarily better “back then,” they were just …
