[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 17 (Monday, January 27, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4670-4671]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-01322]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2019-D-4964]


Demonstrating Substantial Evidence of Effectiveness for Human 
Drug and Biological Products; Draft Guidance for Industry; 
Availability; Extension of Comment Period

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or the Agency) is 
extending the comment period for the notice entitled ``Demonstrating 
Substantial Evidence of Effectiveness for Human Drug and Biological 
Products; Draft Guidance for Industry; Availability'' that appeared in 
the Federal Register of December 20, 2019. The Agency is taking this 
action in response to requests for an extension to allow interested 
persons additional time to submit comments.

DATES: FDA is extending the comment period for the notice published on 
December 20, 2019 (84 FR 70196). Submit either electronic or written 
comments on the draft guidance by March 19, 2020, to ensure that the 
Agency considers your comment on this draft guidance before it begins 
work on the final version of the guidance.

ADDRESSES: You may submit either electronic or written comments 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-2019-D-4964 for ``Demonstrating Substantial Evidence of 
Effectiveness for Human Drug and Biological Products.'' 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.'' We will review 
this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in our 
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.
    You may submit comments on any guidance at any time (see 21 CFR 
10.115(g)(5)).
    Submit written requests for single copies of the draft guidance to 
the 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 or 
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 draft guidance document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen Ripley, Center for Biologics 
Evaluation and Research, Food and

[[Page 4671]]

Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 71, Rm. 7301, 
Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, 240-402-7911; or Ei Thu Lwin, Center for 
Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New 
Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 22, Rm. 6236, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, 301-
796-0728.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    In the Federal Register of December 20, 2019 (84 FR 70196), FDA 
published a notice with a 60-day comment period to request comments on 
the draft guidance for industry entitled ``Demonstrating Substantial 
Evidence of Effectiveness for Human Drug and Biological Products.'' The 
Agency has received requests for extension of the comment period. The 
requests conveyed that additional time is needed to provide comments. 
FDA has considered the requests and is extending the comment period for 
30 days, until March 19, 2020. The Agency believes that an additional 
30 days will allow adequate time for interested persons to submit 
comments without compromising the timely publication of the final 
version of the guidance.

II. Electronic Access

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

    Dated: January 22, 2020.
Lowell J. Schiller,
Principal Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2020-01322 Filed 1-24-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4164-01-P


