As Prescribed

As the healthcare and life sciences industry gears up for the highly anticipated JP Morgan Healthcare Conference later this month, stakeholders across the sector are focusing on key trends and strategies to make the most of this unparalleled networking and deal-making event. To help attendees make the most of the 2025 conference and related events, Morgan Lewis recently hosted its second annual Pre-JPM Conference Networking Event featuring a panel discussion of industry leaders, who offered insights into what they are prioritizing in the run-up to the conference and how they are positioning themselves for a successful conference.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a final rule expanding the approval pathway for nonprescription drug products by allowing the approval of a nonprescription drug product with an “Additional Condition for Nonprescription Use” (ACNU). This rule aims to expand consumer access to certain nonprescription drugs—that would otherwise be available only via prescription—by permitting their retail sale with an additional condition beyond labeling, such as a digital questionnaire to help the consumer decide if the medication is right for them.

Recognizing the importance of diversity and inclusivity in clinical trials, drug development, and regulatory decision-making, Congress amended the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) in connection with the Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act (FDORA) provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, requiring sponsors of certain clinical studies of drugs, biological products, and medical devices to submit Diversity Action Plans to the FDA (FDCA Sections 505(z) and 520(g)(9)).

On May 21, 2024, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register (FR) to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). This announcement comes nearly a year after the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) August 29, 2023 letter to the DEA recommending that marijuana be rescheduled. It also follows an April 11, 2024 opinion letter from the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel that the United States' international treaty obligations do not prevent rescheduling marijuana. The proposed rule represents the most significant policy shift for marijuana since the passage of the CSA in 1970, which categorized marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance.

It is hard to believe that we are already in February and it has been a month since the 42nd Annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco wrapped. It was a packed four days in which the major players in the life sciences industry gathered to make deals, form relationships, and discuss upcoming trends for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.

The ball has dropped on the healthcare and life sciences industry’s unique New Year tradition, the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, so all eyes turn to 2024. To help define a path forward, Morgan Lewis FDA and healthcare partners Jacqueline Berman, Rebecca Dandeker, Maarika Kimbrell, and Kathleen Sanzo have assembled an in-depth report on drug and biologic developments at the FDA.

With the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference taking place in San Francisco this week, what better time for an update on the Orange Book? The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), supported by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), recently issued a policy statement describing how the FTC intends to “scrutinize improper Orange Book listings” to identify potential violations of Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits “unfair methods of competition.”

As the close of 2023 approaches, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued draft guidance detailing its new Advanced Manufacturing Technologies Designation Program, intended to facilitate the development and accelerate the review of drugs and biological products manufactured using an advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) that has been designated under the program.

Substantial evidence, the evidentiary standard for effectiveness established in 1962 by the US Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), is the measure against which all drugs and biologics are approved in the United States. This standard is, in large part, what makes the FDA’s approval standard often considered the worldwide “gold standard” for drug approvals. Now, recent draft guidance issued by FDA looks to refine this standard even further.

In a continuing effort to improve the quality system effectiveness of human drug manufacturing sites, FDA revised MAPP 5014.1, Understanding CDER’s Risk-Based Site Selection Model (Site Selection MAPP or the Policy).