Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Oversight of Clinical Investigations: A Risk-Based Approach to Monitoring

AGENCY:

Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain information by the Agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Federal Agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. This notice solicits comments on information collection associated with oversight of clinical investigations, a risk-based approach to monitoring.

DATES:

Submit either electronic or written comments on the collection of information by January 29, 2019.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments as follows. Please note that late, untimely filed comments will not be considered. Electronic comments must be submitted on or before January 29, 2019. The https://www.regulations.gov electronic filing system will accept comments until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time at the end of January 29, 2019. Comments received by mail/hand delivery/courier (for written/paper submissions) will be considered timely if they are postmarked or the delivery service acceptance receipt is on or before that date.

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-2011-D-0597 for “Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Oversight of Clinical Investigations: A Risk-Based Approach to Monitoring.” Received comments, those filed in a timely manner (see ADDRESSES), 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.

• 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.gpo.gov/fdsys/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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Domini Bean, Office of Operations, Food and Drug Administration, Three White Flint North, 10A-12M, 11601 Landsdown St., North Bethesda, MD 20852, 301-796-5733, PRAStaff@fda.hhs.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), Federal Agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. “Collection of information” is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) and includes Agency requests or requirements that members of the public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) requires Federal Agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement, FDA is publishing notice of the proposed collection of information set forth in this document.

With respect to the following collection of information, FDA invites comments on these topics: (1) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of FDA's functions, including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of FDA's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques, when appropriate, and other forms of information technology.

Oversight of Clinical Investigations: A Risk-Based Approach to Monitoring—21 CFR Parts 312 and 812

OMB Control Number 0910-0733—Extension

This information collection supports reporting and recordkeeping found in Agency guidance. Under parts 312 and 812 (21 CFR parts 312 and 812), sponsors are required to provide appropriate oversight of their clinical investigations to ensure adequate protection of the rights, welfare, and safety of human subjects and to ensure the quality and integrity of the resulting data submitted to FDA. As part of this oversight, sponsors of clinical investigations are required to monitor the conduct and progress of their clinical investigations. The regulations do not specify how sponsors are to conduct monitoring of clinical investigations and are, therefore, compatible with a range of approaches to monitoring.

Accordingly, we developed the guidance document entitled, “Guidance for Industry—Oversight of Clinical Investigations: A Risk-Based Approach to Monitoring.” The guidance is intended to assist sponsors of clinical investigations in developing strategies for risk-based monitoring and plans for clinical investigations of human drug and biological products, medical devices, and combinations thereof. The guidance describes strategies for monitoring activities performed by sponsors or by contract research organizations (CROs) that focus on the conduct, oversight, and reporting of findings of an investigation by clinical investigators. The guidance also recommends strategies that reflect a risk-based approach to monitoring that focuses on critical study parameters and relies on a combination of monitoring activities to oversee a study effectively. Finally, the guidance specifically encourages greater reliance on centralized monitoring methods where appropriate.

Information collections for reports and records associated with clinical investigations under parts 312 and 812 are currently approved under OMB control numbers 0910-0014 and 0910-0078 respectively. These reporting and recordkeeping provisions cover general elements. The guidance discusses other elements sponsors and investigators should consider and include in developing a monitoring plan. As explained in the guidance, documentation of monitoring should include sufficient detail to allow verification that the monitoring plan was followed. The plan should provide adequate information to those involved with monitoring to effectively carry out their duties. All sponsor and CRO personnel who may be involved with monitoring (including those who review appropriate action, determine appropriate action, or both) regarding potential issues identified through monitoring should review the monitoring plan.

We estimate the burden of this collection of information as follows:

Based on a review of the information collection, we have made no adjustments to our burden estimate. We estimate 88 sponsors will develop 132 comprehensive monitoring plans in accordance with the guidance. We believe the associated burden for each plan is approximately 4 hours and includes the time necessary to develop, and amend as appropriate, the monitoring plan.