As Prescribed

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As the close of 2023 approaches, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued draft guidance detailing its new Advanced Manufacturing Technologies Designation Program, intended to facilitate the development and accelerate the review of drugs and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 Now, recent draft guidance issued by FDA looks to refine this standard even further.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).

As drug shortages are once again front-page crises news, demanding drastic action by FDA—currently with a particular focus on sterile, injectable platinum-based chemotherapy drugs—a refresher on the scope of FDA’s tools to address a drug shortage is useful.

While many provisions of the FY 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act (Omnibus) have received much attention, one has flown under the radar. In its explanatory statement on the Omnibus, the US Congress indicated that it is keeping an eye on how FDA approves orphan drug products.

The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) announced a model on February 14, 2023 that would allow CMS to pay less for drugs approved via FDA’s accelerated approval pathway before a clinical benefit has been confirmed by the required confirmatory studies.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued a notice clarifying the agency’s approach to determining the scope of orphan drug exclusivity. According to the FDA, it intends to continue applying its orphan drug regulations such that the scope of orphan drug exclusivity is tied to the specific orphan indication for which a drug is approved, not the indication for which it was designated. This approach, however, is in contrast with the 2021 Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Becerra ruling, and will likely position the agency for future challenges. The FDA’s approach also lends uncertainty to the ultimate scope of current and future periods of orphan drug exclusivity.