Earlier this month we reported that FDA had published a notice in the Federal Register soliciting comments on a proposed biologic naming guidance whereby applicants for biologic products would submit up to 10 proposed four-letter suffixes and, optionally, analyses supporting those suffixes. FDA has now announced that it is withdrawing…
The FDA has extended the public comment period for its draft guidance “Labeling for Biosimilar Products: Guidance for Industry” by 60 days, to August 2, 2016: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/06/06/2016-13223/labeling-for-biosimilar-products-draft-guidance-for-industry-availability-extension-of-comment
The FDA recently requested comment on its draft guidance for implementation of the “deemed to be a license” provision as described in section 7002(e) of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (“BPCI Act”). Section 7002(e) addresses the circumstances under which an application filed under section 505 of…
In a recent meeting, the FDA proposed modifications to the application review process for possible implementation into the Biosimilar User Fee Act (BsUFA). These modifications included establishing a review model similar to “the Program” initiated under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA). Highlights include a mid-cycle communication, a late-cycle…
The Biosimilar User Fee Act (BsUFA) requires FDA to contract with an independent accounting or consulting firm to study the workload volume and full costs associated with the process for the review of biosimilar biological product applications. On February 24, 2016, the FDA released the Final Results Report of its…
The House Energy & Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health met this morning to discuss implementation of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act. Sean Cavanaugh, Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicare, and Janet Woodcock, Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, testified. The subcommittee’s questioning…
Today, the FDA released the latest version of its Guidance Agenda for the upcoming year. Among the new and revised draft guidances that CDER plans to release are the following three guidances concerning biosimilarity: Considerations in Demonstrating Interchangeability With a Reference Product Labeling for Biosimilar Products Statistical Approaches to Evaluation…
FDA recently proposed a new biosimilar naming convention, whereby the nonproprietary name for a biological product would require a new, random four-letter suffix. The new naming convention is in the spirit of emphasizing that biosimilars, unlike generic drugs, are not replicas of their biologic counterpart. In its response to the…
On September 17, 2015, Janet Woodcock, M.D., the director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, testified at a congressional hearing on the topic of biosimilars. A link to her written testimony is provided here, and a link to the video of the Q&A session is provided here….
In April 2015, the FDA released three updated non-binding guidances regarding the process for biosimilar approval under section 351(k) of the Public Health Service Act (“PHS Act”) as amended by the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009. These publications, Biosimilars: Questions and Answers Regarding Implementation of the Biologics…