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Interpretation of the “Deemed to be a License” Provision of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 : Guidance for Industry

FinalCenter for Drug Evaluation and Research Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research12/12/2018

Description

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a final guidance for industry entitled “Interpretation of the `Deemed To Be a License' Provision of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009.” This guidance describes FDA's interpretation of the statutory provision under which an application for a biological product approved under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) as of March 23, 2020, will be deemed to be a license for the biological product under the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act) on March 23, 2020. Specifically, this guidance describes FDA's interpretation of the “deemed to be a license” provision of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (BPCI Act) for biological products that are approved under the FD&C Act as of March 23, 2020. This guidance also provides recommendations to sponsors of proposed protein products intended for submission in an application that may not receive final approval under the FD&C Act on or before March 23, 2020, to facilitate alignment of product development plans with FDA's interpretation of the transition provision of the BPCI Act.

Scope & Applicability

Product Classes

7
Biological Product

Regulated under section 351(i) of the PHS Act; Virus, therapeutic serum, toxin, vaccine, or protein applicable to prevention or treatment; Alternative regulation category for products meeting device definition

Protein Product

Proposed products intended for submission in an application; Specific category of biological products discussed for submission

Biosimilar

Biological product shown to be highly similar to an FDA-licensed reference product; Biological product demonstrated to be highly similar to a reference product

Interchangeable

Biological product shown to be interchangeable with a reference product

biosimilar product

Bifurcated REMS for a biosimilar product and reference product

interchangeable product

biological product that can be expected to produce the same clinical result as the reference product; Product that may be substituted for the reference product

small molecule drugs

typically manufactured through chemical synthesis

Stakeholders

2
Sponsors

Assist sponsors in the nonclinical evaluation

Applicants

Entities submitting supplements to BLAs

Regulatory Context

Attributes

3
Transition Date

March 23, 2020; March 23, 2020, when NDAs are deemed to be BLAs

biosimilarity

highly similar to the reference product notwithstanding minor differences in clinically inactive components

interchangeability

standard where product produces same clinical result and risk of switching is not increased

Related CFR Sections (5)

See Also (8)

Interpretation of the “Deemed to be a License” Provision of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 : Guidance for Industry | Guideline Explorer | BioRegHub