[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 73 (Monday, April 16, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16367-16369]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-07871]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2016-D-1174]


Special Protocol Assessment; Guidance for Industry; Availability

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing 
the availability of a guidance for industry entitled ``Special Protocol 
Assessment.'' This guidance provides information about the procedures 
and general policies adopted by the Center for Drug Evaluation and 
Research and the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research for 
special protocol assessment (SPA). This guidance is intended to improve 
the quality of requests for SPAs and accompanying submission materials, 
and the quality of the resulting interactions between sponsors and FDA. 
This guidance finalizes the draft guidance of the same name issued May 
4, 2016, and replaces the guidance of the same name issued May 17, 
2002.

DATES: The announcement of the guidance is published in the Federal 
Register on April 16, 2018.

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.

[[Page 16368]]

     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-2016-D-1174 for ``Special Protocol Assessment; Guidance for 
Industry.'' 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.
     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.
    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, or Office of 
Communication, Outreach, and Development, Center for Biologics 
Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New 
Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 71, Rm. 3128, 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: Amalia Himaya, Center for Drug 
Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New 
Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 22, Rm. 6439, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, 301-
796-0700; or Stephen Ripley, Center for Biologics Evaluation and 
Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 
71, Rm. 7301, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, 240-402-7911.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    FDA is announcing the availability of a guidance for industry 
entitled ``Special Protocol Assessment.'' SPA is a process by which 
sponsors may request to meet with FDA to reach agreement on the design 
and size of certain trials, clinical studies, or animal studies to 
determine if they adequately address scientific and regulatory 
requirements for a study that could support marketing approval. After 
completing the SPA review, FDA issues a letter including comments from 
the review team, agreement or nonagreement with the proposed protocol, 
and answers to the sponsor's relevant questions. Section 119 of the 
Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act of 1997 (FDAMA) amended 
section 505(b) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) 
(21 U.S.C. 355(b)) and directed FDA to meet with sponsors who request 
to meet, provided certain conditions are met, to reach agreement on the 
design and size of the well-controlled clinical trials intended to form 
the primary basis for a demonstration of effectiveness in a marketing 
application submitted under section 505(b) of the FD&C Act or section 
351 of the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act) (42 U.S.C. 262). These 
provisions subsequently were amended in section 7002(d)(1) of the 
Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 to include any 
necessary clinical study or studies for biosimilar biological product 
applications under section 351(k) of the PHS Act. In 2013, the Pandemic 
and All Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act of 2013 further 
amended the SPA provisions to provide for SPA agreements regarding 
animal and associated clinical trials conducted in support of 
applications for products developed under 21 CFR part 314, subpart I, 
and 21 CFR part 601, subpart H (the animal rule). Such marketing 
applications include new drug applications (NDAs), biologics license 
applications (BLAs), and efficacy supplements to approved NDAs and 
BLAs.
    In conjunction with the reauthorization of the prescription drug 
user fee program in FDAMA (Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) 
II),\1\ and with the Biosimilar User Fee Act of 2012 (BsUFA), enacted 
as part of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, 
FDA agreed to specific performance goals (PDUFA goals and BsUFA 
goals,\2\ respectively) for SPA. Per section 505(b)(5)(B) of the FD&C 
Act, the PDUFA goals, and the BsUFA goals, the following protocols are 
eligible for SPA: (1) Animal carcinogenicity protocols; (2) drug 
substance and drug product stability protocols; (3) animal efficacy 
protocols for studies intended to provide primary evidence of 
effectiveness required for approval or for licensure for products 
developed under the animal rule; (4) protocols for trials intended to 
form the primary basis of an efficacy claim; and (5) clinical studies 
necessary to prove biosimilarity and/or interchangeability.
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    \1\ FDA first agreed to specific PDUFA goals for SPA in November 
1997 in conjunction with PDUFA II, the reauthorization of the 
Prescription Drug User Fee Act of 1992. The PDUFA II goals are 
described in ``PDUFA Reauthorization Performance Goals and 
Procedures,'' an enclosure to a letter dated November 12, 1997, from 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Donna E. Shalala, to 
Senator James M. Jeffords (https://www.fda.gov/ForIndustry/UserFees/PrescriptionDrugUserFee/ucm143135.htm). The program has been 
reauthorized every 5 years; the most recent goals letter is 
available on the FDA website at https://www.fda.gov/ForIndustry/UserFees/PrescriptionDrugUserFee/ucm149212.htm.
    \2\ The BsUFA goals were later updated, in conjunction with the 
Biosimilar User Fee Amendments of 2017.
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    This guidance finalizes the draft guidance of the same name issued 
May 4, 2016, and replaces the guidance of the same name issued May 17, 
2002. Changes were made from the 2016 draft guidance to improve clarity 
and readability.
    This guidance is being issued consistent with FDA's good guidance

[[Page 16369]]

practices regulation (21 CFR 10.115). The guidance represents the 
current thinking of FDA on SPA. 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. This guidance is not subject to Executive 
Order 12866.

II. The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    This guidance refers to previously approved collections of 
information that are subject to review by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-
3520). The collections of information referred to in the guidance 
entitled ``Special Protocol Assessment'' have been approved under OMB 
control number 0910-0470. The collections of information for Form FDA 
1571 have been approved under OMB control number 0910-0014.

III. Electronic Access

    Persons with access to the internet may obtain the guidance at 
https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/Guidances/default.htm, https://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/default.htm, or https://www.regulations.gov.

    Dated: April 11, 2018.
Leslie Kux,
Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2018-07871 Filed 4-13-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4164-01-P


