[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 41 (Thursday, March 1, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8882-8883]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-04154]



[[Page 8882]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2018-D-0719]


E6(R2) Good Clinical Practice: Integrated Addendum to E6(R1); 
International Council for Harmonisation; 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 guidance entitled ``E6(R2) Good Clinical 
Practice: Integrated Addendum to E6(R1).'' The guidance was prepared 
under the auspices of the International Council for Harmonisation 
(ICH), formerly the International Conference on Harmonisation. The 
guidance amends the guidance entitled ``E6 Good Clinical Practice: 
Consolidated Guidance (E6(R1))'' to encourage implementation of 
improved and more efficient approaches to clinical trial design, 
conduct, oversight, recording, and reporting, and also updates 
standards regarding electronic records and essential documents. The 
guidance is intended to improve clinical trial quality and efficiency, 
while maintaining human subject protection and reliability of trial 
results.

DATES: The announcement of the guidance is published in the Federal 
Register on March 1, 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.
     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-0719 for ``E6(R2) Good Clinical Practice: Integrated 
Addendum to E6(R1).'' 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 
(CDER), Food and Drug Administration, 10001 New Hampshire Ave., 
Hillandale Building, 4th Floor, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, or the 
Office of Communication, Outreach and Development, Center for Biologics 
Evaluation and Research (CBER), 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. The guidance may also be obtained by mail by calling 
CBER at 1-800-835-4709 or 240-402-8010. See the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section for electronic access to the guidance document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
    Regarding the guidance: Dianne Paraoan, Center for Drug Evaluation 
and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., 
Bldg. 51, Rm. 3326, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, 301-796-2500; 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.
    Regarding the ICH: Amanda Roache, Center for Drug Evaluation and 
Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 
51, Rm. 1176, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, 301-796-4548.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    In recent years, regulatory authorities and industry associations 
from around the world have participated in many important initiatives 
to promote international harmonization of regulatory requirements under 
the ICH. FDA has participated in several ICH

[[Page 8883]]

meetings designed to enhance harmonization, and FDA is committed to 
seeking scientifically based harmonized technical procedures for 
pharmaceutical development. One of the goals of harmonization is to 
identify and then reduce differences in technical requirements for drug 
development among regulatory agencies.
    ICH was established to provide an opportunity for harmonization 
initiatives to be developed with input from both regulatory and 
industry representatives. FDA also seeks input from consumer 
representatives and others. ICH is concerned with harmonization of 
technical requirements for the registration of pharmaceutical products 
for human use among regulators around the world. The six founding 
members of the ICH are the European Commission; the European Federation 
of Pharmaceutical Industries Associations; FDA; the Japanese Ministry 
of Health, Labour, and Welfare; the Japanese Pharmaceutical 
Manufacturers Association; and the Pharmaceutical Research and 
Manufacturers of America. The Standing Members of the ICH Association 
include Health Canada and Swissmedic. Any party eligible as a Member in 
accordance with the ICH Articles of Association can apply for 
membership in writing to the ICH Secretariat. The ICH Secretariat, 
which coordinates the preparation of documentation, operates as an 
international nonprofit organization and is funded by the Members of 
the ICH Association.
    The ICH Assembly is the overarching body of the Association and 
includes representatives from each of the ICH members and observers. 
The Assembly is responsible for the endorsement of draft guidelines and 
adoption of final guidelines. FDA publishes ICH guidelines as FDA 
guidance.
    In the Federal Register of September 29, 2015 (80 FR 58492), FDA 
published a notice announcing the availability of a draft guidance 
entitled ``E6(R2) Good Clinical Practice.'' The notice gave interested 
persons an opportunity to submit comments on the ``ADDENDUM'' text 
added to ICH E6(R1) by November 30, 2015.
    After consideration of the comments received and revisions to the 
guidance, a final draft of the guidance was submitted to the ICH 
Assembly and endorsed by the regulatory agencies in November 2016.
    The guidance discusses approaches to clinical trial design, 
conduct, oversight, recording, and reporting as well as updated 
standards regarding electronic records and essential documents. This 
guidance includes additions to ICH E6(R1) that are identified as 
``ADDENDUM'' and are marked with vertical lines on both sides of the 
text. The additions to ICH E6(R1) are intended to encourage 
implementation of the described approaches and processes to improve 
clinical trial quality and efficiency while maintaining human subject 
protection and reliability of trial results. Evolutions in technology 
and risk management processes offer new opportunities to increase 
clinical trial efficiency, in part by focusing on trial activities 
essential to ensuring human subject protection and the reliability of 
trial results. For example, the guidance recommends sponsors implement 
a system to manage quality throughout clinical trials and recommends 
sponsors develop a systematic, prioritized, risk-based approach to 
monitoring clinical trials. The guidance provides additional detail 
regarding recommendations for use of electronic records and essential 
documents. The final guidance includes clarifications and additional 
detail on topics including, for example, validation of computerized 
systems and centralized monitoring.
    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 ``E6(R2) Good Clinical Practice: Integrated 
Addendum to E6(R1).'' 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. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    This guidance contains information collection provisions that are 
subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (21 U.S.C. 3501-3520). The 
collections of information in this guidance were approved under 0910-
0843. This guidance also refers to previously approved collections of 
information found in FDA regulations. The collections of information 
found in 21 CFR part 11 have been approved under OMB control number 
0910-0303; the collections of information found in 21 CFR part 56 have 
been approved under OMB control numbers 0910-0755; the collections of 
information found in 21 CFR part 312 have been approved under OMB 
control numbers 0910-0014 and 0910-0733; the collections of information 
found in 21 CFR part 314 have been approved under OMB control number 
0910-0001; and the collections of information found in 21 CFR part 601 
have been approved under OMB control number 0910-0338.

III. Electronic Access

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

    Dated: February 23, 2018.
Leslie Kux,
Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2018-04154 Filed 2-28-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4164-01-P


