This post was also written by Jillian W. Riley.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just announced that it will hold a public hearing March 25 and 26, 2014 to obtain input on the Agency’s current process for reviewing over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. This is a significant advancement in FDA’s long-standing plan to overhaul the OTC drug system. According to the announcement, the Agency’s OTC drug review “needs a critical examination at this juncture to examine whether and how to modernize its processes and regulatory framework.”

Teeing up the importance of the public hearing, Dr. Janet Woodcock, the Director of FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), informed the Wall Street Journal that the Agency was “looking for creative ideas about how to improve the process.”1 According to Dr. Woodcock, “The current system isn’t working well for the public or for us.”  Additional details are available after the jump.

THE CURRENT SYSTEM

The FDA’s announcement highlights a number of challenges associated with the current OTC drug review process (sometimes referred to as the OTC Monograph Process, OTC Monograph, or OTC Drug Review), a process that has not changed in more than 40 years. FDA sees the biggest challenges as the following:

  • The large number of products currently on the market for which there are not yet final monographs. Much of the OTC marketplace is still not covered by final monographs, and data may be insufficient for FDA to determine safety and/or efficacy. An unintended consequence of the enforcement discretion given to products marketed in accordance with tentative final monographs (TFMs) is that it creates negative incentives for sponsors to conduct studies or otherwise respond to safety concerns, as to do so may slow the final monograph process.
  • The current system’s limitations on FDA’s ability to change the monograph to address new safety or efficacy issues. The current process is not sufficiently agile to adapt quickly to new safety concerns that arise either during the rulemaking process or after issuance of a final monograph.
  • The inability of the current OTC Drug Review to easily accommodate innovative changes to OTC products. According to the notice, the FDA generally thought at the time it established the OTC drug review process “that safety and effectiveness evaluations for the various active ingredients would be fairly straightforward and would not need continuous reexamination over time.” Yet, FDA has learned that this is not the case. Scientific advances have given rise to new information about how drugs interact with the body, changing how FDA evaluates drugs. This is particularly relevant in the context of pediatric OTC products, as the preferred approach to pediatric dosing has changed since the OTC drug review was instituted. The current OTC drug review process relies on extrapolated data from an adult population to determine pediatric dosing, however, as opposed to the currently accepted practice of relying on data from actual use in the pediatric population.

THE PROPOSED OVERHAULS

After discussing what it views as the current shortcomings with the system, the FDA asks for input as to how it can improve and modernize the OTC process. FDA is looking for changes to the existing framework or ideas for a complete replacement. The Agency presents some ideas as a starting point for discussion, as noted below. The FDA wants to hear all ideas – from detailed proposals to initial thoughts as to why the current process is not fully successful, noting that public comments “need not be comprehensive to be useful.”

The following are some of FDA’s preliminary proposals to modernize the OTC drug review program for which it seeks public input:

  • Identify a streamlined process that would allow a prompt resolution of existing tentative final monographs. FDA is considering ways to more efficiently bring TFMs to closure.
  • Issue monographs by administrative order. FDA is examining streamlining the monograph process to mimic the device reclassification process put in place by the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act. Under this proposed process, monographs could be established by administrative order, after issuance of a proposed order for public comment.
  • Issue regulations to require product-specific information and expand the use of guidance. FDA is raising the possibility of new regulations that could require sponsors to submit limited information about individual products prior to marketing. This could be similar to, but less detailed than, a new drug application (NDA).
  • Expand the NDA deviation process. The OTC drug review process provides for an NDA deviation process. A sponsor applies for this deviation by showing that the product complies with all the conditions of a monograph except for the deviation, and provides FDA adequate data to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of the product with the deviation. FDA questions why industry has not utilized this option and seeks input as to whether this process could be improved to increase utilization.

HEARING DETAILS

FDA will hold the public hearing March 25 and 26, 2014, at FDA’s White Oak Campus in Silver Spring, Maryland. The registration deadline is March 12, 2014, and FDA will be accepting comments until May 12, 2014.

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1  wsj.com (this article requires a subscription).