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Bioavailability and Bioequivalence Studies Submitted in NDAs or INDs — General Considerations

DraftCenter for Drug Evaluation and Research03/18/2014

Description

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled “Bioavailability and Bioequivalence Studies Submitted in NDAs or INDs—General Considerations” (draft BA and BE guidance for NDAs). The draft guidance provides recommendations to sponsors and/or applicants planning to include bioavailability (BA) and bioequivalence (BE) information for drug products in investigational new drug applications (INDs), new drug applications (NDAs), and NDA supplements. This draft guidance revises those parts of the March 2003 guidance entitled “Bioavailability and Bioequivalence Studies for Orally Administered Drug Products—General Considerations” relating to BA and BE studies for INDs, NDAs, and NDA supplements.

Scope & Applicability

Product Classes

10
Modified-release products

Complex dosage forms that may require one batch per strength for evaluation

Modified-Release Formulations

Use of in vitro data for postapproval changes

Immediate-Release Formulations

Capsules, tablets, and suspensions discussed for in vitro BA/BE

Delayed-release drug products

Delayed-release (DR) drug products are dosage forms that release active ingredient at a later time

Extended-release products

Extended-release (ER) products are dosage forms designed to extend release

Oral solutions

Solubilized dosage forms where BA/BE may be self-evident

Extended-release dosage form

Instances where multiple-dose BA studies may be required

Immediate-release products

Conventional dosage forms; Includes capsules, tablets, and suspensions; data deletion because of vomiting for immediate-release products

Combination Product

Products combining drug, device, or biological constituents; Generally recommended for Enhanced Documentation; Requires 14971-based framework incorporating ICH Q9; A drug-device combination where the device constituent part detects ingestion.

Immediate-release drug products

Scope of products eligible for minor dosage form changes

Stakeholders

3
Sponsor

Entity responsible for submitting applications under section 524B

Applicant

Entity submitting development data and knowledge; Entity performing the work process for change

Healthy volunteers

Possible to conduct the FIH trial in healthy volunteers

Regulatory Context

Attributes

10
High intrasubject variability

Drug products with specific variability characteristics

terminal elimination half-lives

sampling should continue for at least three or more terminal elimination half-lives

AUC0-inf

area under the concentration-time curve extrapolated to infinity

washout period

adequate washout period (e.g., ≥5 half-lives) should separate each treatment

intrasubject variability

drugs that demonstrate a high intrasubject variability (≥30%)

f2 value

Similarity factor used to compare dissolution profiles

proportionally similar

This guidance defines proportionally similar in the following ways

Batch Size

The amount of product held or processed at a specific step.; Used to calculate servings per batch

nonlinear pharmacokinetics

For drugs with nonlinear pharmacokinetics over the therapeutic dose range

linear pharmacokinetics

For drugs with linear pharmacokinetics over the therapeutic dose range

Identified Hazards

Hazards

1
Dose dumping

potential cause of product failure in sustained-release dosage forms

Related CFR Sections (10)

See Also (8)