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from a number of large industry stakeholders and floating the idea for some time, FDA announced the availability of a Draft Guidance entitled “Request for Quality Metrics.” The Draft Guidance formally presents FDA’s current thinking and intentions …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 …
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 Alexander J. Varond – FDA recently issued its final rule on permanent discontinuance or interruption in manufacturing of certain drug or biological products. To those familiar with the proposed rule issued in 2013, a review of the final rule will not bring many surprises. We …
By Kurt R. Karst – One of the more memorable lines from the original Star Wars Trilogy is uttered in Return of the Jedi when Luke Skywalker surrenders himself to Darth Vader on the Forest Moon of Endor. Luke tries to convince Vader to return to …
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 Andrew J. Hull* – Only one day before the product-tracing provisions of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (“DSCSA”) were set to take effect for dispensers, FDA issued a Guidance Document for immediate implementation that signals FDA’s intention to delay any use of enforcement for …
By Andrew J. Hull* - On June 22, three major pharmacists associations signed a letter to FDA asking the agency to use its enforcement discretion as pharmacies struggle to create appropriate product-tracing policies and practices before the July 1 compliance deadline under the Drug Supply Chain …
