2022-26059. Effectiveness of Anthelmintics: Specific Recommendations for Products Proposed for the Prevention of Heartworm Disease in Dogs; Draft Guidance for Industry; Availability

AGENCY:

Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice of availability.

SUMMARY:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry (GFI) #276 entitled “Effectiveness of Anthelmintics: Specific Recommendations for Products Proposed for the Prevention of Heartworm Disease in Dogs.” This draft guidance is intended for sponsors and potential sponsors who may be interested in pursuing approval of investigational new animal drugs for the prevention of heartworm disease in dogs. The draft guidance provides recommendations for the effectiveness evaluation of drugs indicated for the prevention of heartworm disease caused by Dirofilaria immitis in dogs. These recommendations should be read in conjunction with related Agency Veterinary International Conference on Harmonization (VICH) guidance documents and are intended to provide additional detail to elements of study design and interpretation under the recommendations laid out in the VICH guidances.

DATES:

Submit either electronic or written comments on the draft guidance by January 30, 2023 to ensure that the Agency considers your comment on this draft guidance before it begins work on the final version of the guidance.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments on any guidance at any time as follows:

Electronic Submissions

Submit electronic comments in the following way:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted electronically, including attachments, to https://www.regulations.gov will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment does not include any confidential information that you or a third party may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone else's Social Security number, or confidential business information, such as a manufacturing process. Please note that if you include your name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in the body of your comments, that information will be posted on https://www.regulations.gov.

• If you want to submit a comment with confidential information that you do not wish to be made available to the public, submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner detailed (see “Written/Paper Submissions” and “Instructions”).

Written/Paper Submissions

Submit written/paper submissions as follows:

• Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier (for written/paper submissions): Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

• For written/paper comments submitted to the Dockets Management Staff, FDA will post your comment, as well as any attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified, as confidential, if submitted as detailed in “Instructions.”

Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket No. FDA-2022-D-2899 for “Effectiveness of Anthelmintics: Specific Recommendations for Products Proposed for the Prevention of Heartworm Disease in Dogs.” Received comments will be placed in the docket and, except for those submitted as “Confidential Submissions,” publicly viewable at https://www.regulations.gov or at the Dockets Management Staff between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, 240-402-7500.

• Confidential Submissions—To submit a comment with confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly available, submit your comments only as a written/paper submission. You should submit two copies total. One copy will include the information you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover note that states “THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.” The Agency will review this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in its consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the claimed confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be available for public viewing and posted on https://www.regulations.gov. Submit both copies to the Dockets Management Staff. If you do not wish your name and contact information to be made publicly available, you can provide this information on the cover sheet and not in the body of your comments and you must identify this information as “confidential.” Any information marked as “confidential” will not be disclosed except in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other applicable disclosure law. For more information about FDA's posting of comments to public dockets, see 80 FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or access the information at: https://www.govinfo.gov/​content/​pkg/​FR-2015-09-18/​pdf/​2015-23389.pdf.

Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in the heading of this document, into the “Search” box and follow the prompts and/or go to the Dockets Management Staff, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852, 240-402-7500.

You may submit comments on any guidance at any time (see 21 CFR 10.115(g)(5)).

Submit written requests for single copies of the guidance to the Policy and Regulations Staff (HFV-6), Center for Veterinary Medicine, Food and Drug Administration, 7500 Standish Pl., Rockville, MD 20855. Send one self-addressed adhesive label to assist that office in processing your requests. See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for electronic access to the draft guidance document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Steven Fleischer, Center for Veterinary Medicine (HFV-110), Food and Drug Administration, 7500 Standish Pl., Rockville, MD 20855, 240-402-0809, [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

FDA is announcing the availability of draft GFI #276 entitled “Effectiveness of Anthelmintics: Specific Recommendations for Products Proposed for the Prevention of Heartworm Disease in Dogs.” The recommended approach to demonstrate substantial evidence of effectiveness of an investigational new animal drug intended for the prevention of heartworm disease in dogs is for the sponsor to conduct two laboratory dose confirmation studies and one multisite field effectiveness study in accordance with the principles of good clinical practice as described in GFI #85 (VICH GL9), “Good Clinical Practice.” This draft guidance provides detail regarding FDA's recommendations for the effectiveness evaluation of drugs indicated for the prevention of heartworm disease caused by Dirofilaria immitis in dogs. This guidance is informed by comments FDA received in response to the “Evaluation of Approaches To Demonstrate Effectiveness of Heartworm Preventatives for Dogs; Request for Comments,” which published in the Federal Register on May 24, 2018 (83 FR 24122).

This level 1 draft guidance is being issued consistent with FDA's good guidance practices regulation (21 CFR 10.115). The draft guidance, when finalized, will represent the current thinking of FDA on “Effectiveness of Anthelmintics: Specific Recommendations for Products Proposed for the Prevention of Heartworm Disease in Dogs.” It does not establish any rights for any person and is not binding on FDA or the public. You can use an alternative approach if it satisfies the requirements of the applicable statutes and regulations.

II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

While this guidance contains no collection of information, it does refer to previously approved FDA collections of information. Therefore, clearance by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521) is not required for this guidance. The previously approved collections of information are subject to review by OMB under the PRA. The collections of information in 21 CFR part 514 have been approved under OMB control number 0910-0032.

III. Electronic Access

Persons with access to the internet may obtain the draft guidance at https://www.fda.gov/​animal-veterinary/​guidance-regulations/​guidance-industry, https://www.fda.gov/​regulatory-information/​search-fda-guidance-documents, or https://www.regulations.gov.

Dated: November 22, 2022.

Lauren K. Roth,

Associate Commissioner for Policy.