§ 316.21 - Verification of orphan-drug status.

§ 316.21 Verification of orphan-drug status.

(a) So that FDA can determine whether a drug qualifies for orphan-drug designation under section 526(a) of the act, the sponsor shall include in its request to FDA for orphan-drug designation under § 316.20 either:

(1) Documentation as described in paragraph (b) of this section that the number of people affected by the disease or condition for which the drug is to be developed is fewer than 200,000 persons; or

(2) Documentation as described in paragraph (c) of this section that demonstrates that there is no reasonable expectation that the sales of the drug will be sufficient to offset the costs of developing the drug for the U.S. market and the costs of making the drug available in the United States.

(b) For the purpose of documenting that the number of people affected by the disease or condition for which the drug is to be developed is less than 200,000 persons, “prevalence” is defined as the number of persons in the United States who have been diagnosed as having the disease or condition at the time of the submission of the request for orphan-drug designation. To document the number of persons in the United States who have the disease or condition for which the drug is to be developed, the sponsor shall submit to FDA evidence showing:

(1) The estimated prevalence of the disease or condition for which the drug is being developed, together with a list of the sources (including dates of information provided and literature citations) for the estimate;

(2) Upon request by FDA, the estimated prevalence of any other disease or condition for which the drug has already been approved or for which the drug is currently being developed, together with an explanation of the bases of these estimates; and

(3) The estimated number of people to whom the drug will be administered annually if the drug is a vaccine or is a drug intended for diagnosis or prevention of a rare disease or condition, together with an explanation of the bases of these estimates (including dates of information provided and literature citations).

(c) When submitting documentation that there is no reasonable expectation that costs of research and development of the drug for the disease or condition can be recovered by sales of the drug in the United States, the sponsor shall submit to FDA:

(1) Data on all costs that the sponsor has incurred in the course of developing the drug for the U.S. market. These costs shall include, but are not limited to, nonclinical laboratory studies, clinical studies, dosage form development, record and report maintenance, meetings with FDA, determination of patentability, preparation of designation request, IND/marketing application preparation, distribution of the drug under a “treatment” protocol, licensing costs, liability insurance, and overhead and depreciation. Furthermore, the sponsor shall demonstrate the reasonableness of the cost data. For example, if the sponsor has incurred costs for clinical investigations, the sponsor shall provide information on the number of investigations, the years in which they took place, and on the scope, duration, and number of patients that were involved in each investigation.

(2) If the drug was developed wholly or in part outside the United States, in addition to the documentation listed in paragraph (c)(1) of this section:

(i) Data on and justification for all costs that the sponsor has incurred outside of the United States in the course of developing the drug for the U.S. market. The justification, in addition to demonstrating the reasonableness of the cost data, must also explain the method that was used to determine which portion of the foreign development costs should be applied to the U.S. market, and what percent these costs are of total worldwide development costs. Any data submitted to foreign government authorities to support drug pricing determinations must be included with this information.

(ii) Data that show which foreign development costs were recovered through cost recovery procedures that are allowed during drug development in some foreign countries. For example, if the sponsor charged patients for the drug during clinical investigations, the revenues collected by the sponsor must be reported to FDA.

(3) In cases where the drug has already been approved for marketing for any indication or in cases where the drug is currently under investigation for one or more other indications (in addition to the indication for which orphan-drug designation is being sought), a clear explanation of and justification for the method that is used to apportion the development costs among the various indications.

(4) A statement of and justification for any development costs that the sponsor expects to incur after the submission of the designation request. In cases where the extent of these future development costs are not clear, the sponsor should request FDA's advice and assistance in estimating the scope of nonclinical laboratory studies and clinical investigations and other data that are needed to support marketing approval. Based on these recommendations, a cost estimate should be prepared.

(5) A statement of and justification for production and marketing costs that the sponsor has incurred in the past and expects to incur during the first 7 years that the drug is marketed.

(6) An estimate of and justification for the expected revenues from sales of the drug in the United States during its first 7 years of marketing. The justification should assume that the total market for the drug is equal to the prevalence of the disease or condition that the drug will be used to treat. The justification should include:

(i) An estimate of the expected market share of the drug in each of the first 7 years that it is marketed, together with an explanation of the basis for that estimate;

(ii) A projection of and justification for the price at which the drug will be sold; and

(iii) Comparisons with sales of similarly situated drugs, where available.

(7) The name of each country where the drug has already been approved for marketing for any indication, the dates of approval, the indication for which the drug is approved, and the annual sales and number of prescriptions in each country since the first approval date.

(8) A report of an independent certified public accountant in accordance with Statement on Standards for Attestation established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants on agreed upon procedures performed with respect to the data estimates and justifications submitted pursuant to this section. Cost data shall be determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

(d) A sponsor that is requesting orphan-drug designation for a drug designed to treat a disease or condition that affects 200,000 or more persons shall, at FDA's request, allow FDA or FDA-designated personnel to examine at reasonable times and in a reasonable manner all relevant financial records and sales data of the sponsor and manufacturer.

[57 FR 62085, Dec. 29, 1992, as amended at 78 FR 35133, June 12, 2013]