Abbreviated New Drug Application Submissions-Amendments and Requests for Final Approval To Tentatively Approved Abbreviated New Drug Applications; 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 final guidance for industry entitled “ANDA Submissions—Amendments and Requests for Final Approval to Tentatively Approved ANDAs.” This guidance is intended to assist applicants in preparing and submitting amendments to tentatively approved abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs), including requests for final approval. This guidance provides recommendations on the timing and content of amendments to tentatively approved ANDAs to facilitate submission in a timely fashion to enable final approval on the earliest date on which the ANDA may lawfully be approved based on patent and/or exclusivity protections (earliest lawful approval date). This guidance finalizes the draft guidance of the same title issued on February 1, 2019.

DATES:

The announcement of the guidance is published in the Federal Register on September 29, 2020.

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-2018-D-4726 for “ANDA Submissions—Amendments and Requests for Final Approval to Tentatively Approved ANDAs.” 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 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:

Elizabeth Giaquinto Friedman, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 75, Rm. 1670, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, 240-402-7930, elizabeth.giaquinto@fda.hhs.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

FDA is announcing the availability of a guidance for industry entitled “ANDA Submissions—Amendments and Requests for Final Approval to Tentatively Approved ANDAs.” This guidance is intended to assist applicants in preparing and submitting amendments to tentatively approved ANDAs, including requests for final approval. This guidance provides recommendations on the timing and content of amendments to tentatively approved ANDAs to facilitate submission in a timely fashion to enable final approval on the earliest date on which the ANDA may lawfully be approved based on patent and/or exclusivity protections (earliest lawful approval date).

If an ANDA meets the substantive requirements for approval but cannot be finally approved by FDA because of unexpired patents or exclusivities, FDA will tentatively approve the ANDA. Under section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act) (21 U.S.C. 355), a drug product that is the subject of a tentatively approved ANDA is not an approved drug and does not have an effective approval until FDA issues an approval after any necessary additional review of the application.

An ANDA applicant may submit amendments to a tentatively approved application that propose changes to the application, request final approval, or propose changes and request final approval. As described in the guidance, an amendment proposing changes to the application may delay FDA's final approval of the ANDA, depending on the timing of submission of the amendment and the nature of the changes proposed and any related deficiencies identified upon review. The guidance is intended to assist applicants in preparing an amendment for submission in a timely fashion to enable final approval on the earliest lawful approval date. In particular, applicants that wish to request final approval should determine whether changes are necessary before requesting this final approval, review any changes that have been made to their application since the tentative approval was granted, and consider the possible review goal dates that may be assigned to the request for final approval to request final approval in a timely fashion.

In the Federal Register of February 1, 2019 (84 FR 1164), FDA announced the availability of the draft guidance of the same title dated January 2019. The draft guidance was posted on FDA's website on January 16, 2019, during the lapse in appropriations to provide advance notice of the document to the public. The comment period opened upon publication in the Federal Register. FDA received five comments on the draft guidance and those comments were considered as the guidance was finalized. The final guidance contains minor clarifications to the draft guidance. The guidance announced in this notice finalizes the draft guidance dated January 2019.

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 “ANDA Submissions—Amendments and Requests for Final Approval to Tentatively Approved ANDAs.” 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. Electronic Access

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