FDA

Last week, President Trump issued an executive order aimed at encouraging the expansion American manufacturing of essential medical products — Executive Order on Ensuring Essential Medicines, Medical Countermeasures, and Critical Inputs Are Made in the United States (August 6, 2020) (the “Order”).  The Order sets forth an ambitious plan requiring extensive agency action on a tight timeline that suggests a significant impact.  Closer examination of the Order raises significant questions about the practicalities of implementation and the realistic impact of the Order once the substantial stated exceptions are taken into account.

The List

The heart of the Order is a list of Essential Medicines, Medical Countermeasures (“MCMs”), and Critical Inputs to which the Order’s requirements apply — but the key components of this list do not yet exist.  Instead, the Order directs the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) to produce the list within 90 days and to include on the list Essential Medicines, MCMs, and Critical Inputs “that are medically necessary to have available at all times in an amount adequate to serve patient needs and in the appropriate dosage forms.”

The Order provides the following definitions that give some insight into what may be on the FDA’s eventual list:
Continue Reading Trump Administration Increases Uncertainty for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

As of February 10, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 40,554 cases of the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) have been confirmed globally, with twelve cases confirmed in the United States.  The WHO has been issuing situation reports on a daily basis since January 21, and each report in February alone has identified more than 2,000 to 3,000 new cases each day.

Due to the lack of approved therapeutics, vaccines, and diagnostics for this threat, developing new products and testing products already approved for other uses is a high priority for the U.S. interagency response effort—the Medical Countermeasure (MCM) Task Force.  The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), under the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is leading this Task Force in partnership with U.S. Department of Defense, Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Institutes of Health.

BARDA is currently looking at the effectiveness of existing countermeasures for similar viruses, as well as potential new responsive technologies, including vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics, and medical supplies.  BARDA is serving as the sole point of entry for product and technology submissions to ensure there is an expedited process for receipt and review of proposed solutions for 2019-nCoV.  In this capacity, BARDA has released two opportunities to submit potential solutions for the 2019-nCoV response discussed below: (1) the EZ-BAA for 2019-nCoV diagnostics and (2) market research packages for any and all potential products and supplies.  Covington encourages those with technology that could be potentially useful to respond.Continue Reading U.S. Government Seeks Industry Solutions in Novel Coronavirus Response

The U.S. Government has recently taken a number of steps to reinvigorate its support of medical countermeasure development. In particular, by pursuing new methods of contracting, updating regulatory frameworks, and establishing additional incentives for capital investment, the U.S. Government has confirmed that countermeasure development remains a critical component of public health preparedness.

Now, over the past two weeks, a two-part congressional hearing has suggested that recent efforts may soon be accompanied by key legislative changes, including much needed funding authorizations and incentives. As a result, the upcoming reauthorization of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (“PAHPA”), and its prior reauthorization, may present a critical opportunity to continue to improve public-private relationships in countermeasure development.

Continue Reading Recent Support of Countermeasure Development Poised to Continue in Reauthorization of PAHPA

On January 19, 2018, FDA announced the availability of a new draft guidance, titled “Material Threat Medical Countermeasure Priority Review Vouchers.” FDA’s publication of the draft guidance, which was issued by FDA’s Office of Counterterrorism and Emerging Threats (OCET) without a statutory mandate – reflects the commitment of FDA leadership to the development and approval of medical countermeasures (MCMs). In a question and answer format, FDA provides details about the Agency’s interpretation and implementation of the MCM priority review voucher (PRV) program, which was established in December 2016 by the 21st Century Cures Act (Section 565A of the Federal Food Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act)). That provision, intended to incentivize the development of MCMs, requires FDA to award a PRV to the sponsor of a successful marketing application that meets certain statutory criteria.
Continue Reading FDA Commitment to MCM Development Reflected in New Draft Guidance on Medical Countermeasure Priority Review Vouchers

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently became one of a number of federal agencies to adopt the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (“NIST”) core cybersecurity framework.  On October 2, 2014, FDA issued final guidance on the content of premarket submissions for the management of cybersecurity in medical devices.  The final guidance sets forth recommendations for the design and development of medical devices, as well as the preparation of premarket submissions, that are intended to reduce the likelihood that medical devices will be compromised as a result of inadequate cybersecurity.  Although the final guidance is not binding, it is broadly applicable—the recommendations apply to device manufacturers submitting premarket applications and notifications (including 510(k) notifications), as well as to manufacturers implementing the requirements under the Quality System Regulation.   The guidance supplements other standards generally applicable to software included in medical devices, as well as specific standards addressing cybersecurity risks in medical devices containing off-the-shelf software.

In addition to adopting the NIST core cybersecurity framework, which FDA recently agreed to promote in a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center, the final guidance sets forth concrete recommendations specifically applicable to medical devices.  The final guidance suggests, for example, that device manufacturers put systems in place to detect compromises and implement safeguards to preserve critical functionality and recover previous configurations.  The final guidance also recommends that device manufacturers track all cybersecurity risks considered in the design of a device and justify in premarket submissions the safeguards put in place to addresses identified risks.  Specifically, the final guidance recommends that manufacturers justify a decision to use a particular security function, such as the use of one among many authentication processes or methods of securing the transfer of data.Continue Reading FDA Adopts Core NIST Framework in Guidance for Management of Cybersecurity in Medical Devices