2024-18636. Product-Specific Guidance Meetings Between the Food and Drug Administration and Abbreviated New Drug Application Applicants Under the Generic Drug User Fee Amendments; Guidance for Industry; Availability

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Department of Health and Human Services

Food and Drug Administration

1. [Docket No. FDA-2023-D-0044]

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 final guidance for industry entitled “Product-Specific Guidance Meetings Between FDA and ANDA Applicants Under GDUFA.” This guidance provides recommendations to industry on product-specific guidance (PSG) meetings between FDA and a prospective applicant preparing to submit to FDA, or an applicant that has submitted to FDA, an abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). Specifically, this guidance provides information on requesting and conducting PSG meetings with FDA ( i.e., pre-submission PSG teleconferences, post-submission PSG teleconferences, pre-submission PSG meetings, and post-submission PSG meetings), as contemplated in the Generic Drug User Fee Amendments (GDUFA) Reauthorization Performance Goals and Program Enhancements Fiscal Years 2023-2027 (GDUFA III commitment letter). This guidance provides procedures that will promote well-managed PSG meetings and help ensure that such meetings are scheduled and conducted in accordance with the time frames set forth in the GDUFA III commitment letter. This guidance finalizes the draft guidance for industry of the same title issued on February 21, 2023.

DATES:

The announcement of the guidance is published in the Federal Register on August 20, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit either electronic or written comments on Agency guidances 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-2023-D-0044 for “Product-Specific Guidance Meetings Between FDA and ANDA Applicants Under GDUFA.” 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 onhttps://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 this guidance to the Division of Drug Information, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10001 New Hampshire Ave., Hillandale Building, 4th Floor, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002. Send one self-addressed adhesive label to assist that office in processing your requests. See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for electronic access to the guidance document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David Coppersmith, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 75, Rm. 1673, Silver Spring MD 20993-0002, 301-796-9193.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

FDA is announcing the availability of a guidance for industry entitled “Product-Specific Guidance Meetings Between FDA and ANDA Applicants Under GDUFA.” The Generic Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012 (GDUFA I) amended the FD&C Act to authorize FDA to assess and collect user fees to provide the Agency with resources to help ensure patients have access to quality, safe, and effective generic drugs. GDUFA fee resources bring ( print page 67447) greater predictability and timeliness to the review of generic drug applications. GDUFA has been reauthorized every 5 years to continue FDA's ability to assess and collect GDUFA fees and this user fee program has been reauthorized two times since GDUFA I, most recently in the Generic Drug User Fee Amendments of 2022 (GDUFA III). As described in the GDUFA III commitment letter applicable to this latest reauthorization, FDA agreed to performance goals and program enhancements regarding aspects of the generic drug assessment program that build on previous authorizations of GDUFA. New enhancements to the program are designed to maximize the efficiency and utility of each assessment cycle, with the intent of reducing the number of assessment cycles for ANDAs and facilitating timely access to generic medicines for American patients.

To receive approval for an ANDA submitted under section 505(j) of the FD&C Act (21 U.S.C. 355(j)), an applicant generally must demonstrate, among other things, that its proposed drug product is bioequivalent to the reference listed drug (RLD). As noted in 21 CFR 320.24, in vivo methods, in vitro methods, or both can be used to establish bioequivalence (BE). FDA recommends that applicants consult published PSGs when considering an appropriate BE study and/or other studies for a proposed drug product. PSGs provide recommendations for developing generic drug products and describe FDA's current thinking on the evidence needed to demonstrate that an ANDA is therapeutically equivalent to the specific RLD product.

As described in the GDUFA III commitment letter, FDA agreed to certain performance goals, including time frames and procedures for scheduling and conducting: (1) PSG teleconferences to provide feedback on the potential impact of a new or revised PSG on the applicant's development program; and (2) pre-submission PSG meetings and post-submission PSG meetings to provide a forum in which the applicant can discuss the scientific rationale for an approach other than the approach recommended in a new or revised PSG to ensure that the approach complies with the relevant statutes and regulations.

This guidance finalizes the draft guidance of the same title issued on February 21, 2023 (88 FR 10523). FDA considered comments received on the draft guidance as the guidance was finalized. Changes from the draft to the final guidance include updates to clarify when applicants can submit PSG teleconference and PSG meeting requests, the topics that applicants can discuss during PSG teleconferences and PSG meetings, and when applicants should utilize other pathways to seek FDA's feedback. In addition, FDA made editorial changes to improve clarity.

This guidance is being issued consistent with FDA's good guidance practices regulation (21 CFR 10.115). The guidance represents the current thinking of FDA on “Product-Specific Guidance Meetings Between FDA and ANDA Applicants Under GDUFA.” 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. The previously approved collections of information are subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521). The collections of information pertaining to the submissions of controlled correspondence, GDUFA III meetings related to generic drug development, and the Generic Drug User Fee Program have been approved under OMB control number 0910-0727. The collections of information in 21 CFR part 314 have been approved under OMB control number 0910-0001.

III. Electronic Access

Persons with access to the internet may obtain the guidance at https://www.fda.gov/​drugs/​guidance-compliance-regulatory-information/​guidances-drugs, https://www.fda.gov/​regulatory-information/​search-fda-guidance-documents, or https://www.regulations.gov.

Dated: August 15, 2024.

Lauren K. Roth,

Associate Commissioner for Policy.