E6-20251. Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting

AGENCY:

Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice.

This notice announces a forthcoming meeting of a public advisory committee of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The meeting will be open to the public.

Name of Committee: Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Advisory Committee.

General Function of the Committee: To provide advice and recommendations to the agency on FDA's regulatory issues.

Date and Time: The meeting will be held on December 15, 2006, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Location: Crown Plaza Silver Spring, 8777 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, MD. The hotel telephone number is 301-589-0800.

Contact Person: William Freas, or Rosanna L. Harvey, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (HFM-71), Food and Drug Administration, 1401 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852-1448, 301-827-0314, or FDA Advisory Committee Information Line, 1-800-741-8138 (301-443-0572 in the Washington, DC area), code 3014512392. Please call the Information Line for up-to-date information on this meeting.

Agenda: On December 15, 2006, the committee will discuss FDA's risk assessment for potential exposure to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in human plasma-derived antihemophilic factor (FVIII) products manufactured from U. S. plasma donors and related communication materials. In the afternoon, the committee will discuss levels of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy clearance in the manufacture of plasma-derived Factor VIII products. FDA intends to make background material available to the public no later than one business day before the meeting. If FDA is unable to post the background material on its Web site prior to the meeting, the background material will be made publicly available at the location of the advisory committee meeting, and the background material will be posted on FDA's Web site after the meeting. Background material is available at http://www.fda.gov/​ohrms/​dockets/​ac/​acmenu.htm, click on the year 2006 and scroll down to the appropriate advisory committee link.

Procedure: Interested persons may present data, information, or views, orally or in writing, on issues pending before the committee. Written submissions may be made to the contact person on or before December 11, 2006. Oral presentations from the public will be scheduled between approximately 10:25 and 10:55 a.m. and 1:35 and 2:05 p.m. on December 15, 2006. Those desiring to make formal oral presentations should notify the contact person and submit a brief statement of the general nature of the evidence or arguments they wish to present, the names and addresses of proposed participants, and an indication of the approximate time requested to make their presentation on or before December 7, 2006. Time allotted for each presentation may be limited. If the number of registrants requesting to speak is greater than can be reasonably accommodated during the scheduled open public hearing session, FDA may conduct a lottery to determine the speakers for the scheduled open public hearing session. The contact person will notify interested persons regarding their request to speak by December 8, 2006.

Persons attending FDA's advisory committee meetings are advised that the agency is not responsible for providing access to electrical outlets.

FDA welcomes the attendance of the public at its advisory committee meetings and will make every effort to accommodate persons with physical disabilities or special needs. If you require special accommodations due to a disability, please contact William Freas or Rosanna L. Harvey at least 7 days in advance of the meeting.

Notice of this meeting is given under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. app. 2).

Dated: November 22, 2006.

Randall W. Lutter,

Associate Commissioner for Policy and Planning.