As Prescribed

Earlier this year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published new draft guidance substantially revising the agency’s previous guidance on the Establishment and Operation of Clinical Trial Data Monitoring Committees (DMCs). Since the original guidance was published in 2006, the agency has noticed an uptick in not only DMC usage but also broader DMC functions. As DMC use has changed, the guidance provides detailed considerations for sponsors regarding a variety of areas, including when a DMC may be appropriate, the scope of DMC responsibilities, and how to properly set up a DMC.

2024 is shaping up to be a big year for prescription drug affordability boards (PDABs). Like state price transparency reporting laws, state legislation establishing PDABs continues expansion. In response to rising prescription costs and overall state-level health care spending, numerous states have established PDABs to review certain high-cost prescription drugs and determine if states should take action to reduce those prices.

Effective April 1, 2024, California will expand its existing prescription drug price transparency requirements by enacting legislation to amend and clarify requirements on wholesale acquisition cost increase reporting and notice submissions as well implement further processes for manufacturer penalty hearings.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued draft guidance, providing recommendations to sponsors who are considering submitting a non-interventional study (i.e., an observational study) to FDA to support the demonstration of substantial evidence of effectiveness and/or evidence of safety of a drug or biologic, as another chapter in its evolution toward the use of real-world evidence (RWE).

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 US Supreme Court recently debated the future of the legal precedent known as Chevron deference in two separate cases arising out of the National Marine Fisheries Service’s statutory interpretation of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, a statute it enforces. The decision in these cases will almost certainly have far-reaching impacts on agency actions, including as it is applied in the healthcare and life sciences industries.

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.

On the last day of the 2024 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, we’re taking a look back at the last year to revisit the developments that had a considerable impact on the life sciences industry, including the transactional market.

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.