Licensure and Regulation of Biologics in the U.S.

In the U.S., biological products used for the prevention, treatment, or cure of a disease or condition in a human being are subject to regulation under the U.S. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) and its implementing regulations, with the exception that the section of the FDCA that governs the approval of drugs via NDAs does not apply to the approval of biologics. Biologics are approved for marketing under provisions of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) via biologics license applications (BLAs). However, the application process and requirements for approval of BLAs are very similar to those for new drug applications (NDAs). The failure to comply with the applicable U.S. requirements at any time during the product development process, including preclinical testing and clinical testing, the approval process or post-approval process may subject an applicant to delays in the conduct of a clinical trial, regulatory review and approval, and/or administrative or judicial sanctions. These sanctions may include, but are not limited to, the FDA’s refusal to allow an applicant to proceed with clinical testing, refusal to approve pending applications, license suspension or revocation, warning or untitled letters, adverse publicity, product recalls, product seizures, total or partial suspension of production or distribution, injunctions, fines and civil or criminal investigations and penalties brought by the FDA or the Department of Justice or other governmental entities.

An applicant seeking approval to market and distribute a new biologic in the U.S. generally must satisfactorily complete each of the following steps:

• preclinical laboratory tests, animal studies and formulation studies all performed in accordance with applicable regulations, including the GLPs;
• submission to the FDA of an IND application for human clinical testing, which must become effective before human clinical trials may begin;
• approval by an institutional review board (IRB) representing each clinical site before each clinical trial may be initiated;
• performance of adequate and well-controlled human clinical trials to establish the safety, potency and purity of the product candidate for each proposed indication, in accordance with good clinical practices (GCPs);
• preparation and submission to the FDA of a BLA for a biological product requesting marketing for one or more proposed indications, including submission of detailed information on the manufacture and composition of the product in clinical development and proposed labeling;
• one or more FDA inspections of the manufacturing facility or facilities, including those of third parties, at which the product, or components thereof, are produced to assess compliance with cGMP requirements and to assure that the facilities, methods and controls are adequate to preserve the product’s identity, strength, quality and purity;
• FDA audits of the clinical trial sites to assure compliance with GCPs, and the integrity of clinical data in support of the BLA;
• payment of user fees and securing FDA approval of the BLA and licensure of the new biological product; and
• compliance with any post-approval requirements, including the potential requirement to implement a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) and any post-approval studies required by the FDA; and preclinical trials and INDs.

Before testing any biological product candidate in humans, the product candidate must undergo preclinical testing. Preclinical tests include laboratory evaluations of product chemistry, formulation and stability, as well as animal studies to evaluate the potential for activity and toxicity. The conduct of the preclinical tests and formulation of the compounds for testing must comply with federal regulations and requirements. The results of the preclinical tests, together with manufacturing information and analytical data, are submitted to the FDA as part of an IND application. The IND automatically becomes effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless before that time the FDA raises concerns or questions about the product candidate or conduct of the proposed clinical trial, including concerns that human research subjects will be exposed to unreasonable health risks, and places the proposed clinical trial on clinical hold. In that case, the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding FDA concerns before the clinical trial can begin.

As a result, submission of the IND may result in the FDA not allowing the clinical trial to commence or on the terms originally specified by the sponsor in the IND. If the FDA imposes a partial or complete clinical hold, this action would delay either a proposed clinical trial or cause suspension of an ongoing clinical trial, or in the case of a partial clinical hold place limitations on the conduct of the clinical trial such as duration of treatment, until all outstanding concerns have been adequately addressed and the FDA has notified the company that investigation may proceed and then only under terms authorized by the FDA. This could cause significant delays or difficulties in completing planned clinical trials in a timely manner. The FDA may impose clinical holds on a biological product candidate at any time before or during clinical trials due to safety concerns or non-compliance.

Human Clinical Trials in Support of a BLA

Clinical trials involve the administration of the investigational product candidate to healthy volunteers or patients with the disease to be treated under the supervision of a qualified principal investigator in accordance with GCPs. Clinical trials are conducted under clinical trial protocols detailing, among other things, the objectives of the clinical trial, inclusion and exclusion criteria, the parameters to be used in monitoring safety, and the effectiveness criteria to be evaluated. A protocol for each clinical trial and any subsequent protocol amendments must be submitted to the FDA as part of the IND.

A sponsor who wishes to conduct a clinical trial outside the U.S. may, but is not required to, obtain FDA clearance to conduct the clinical trial under an effective IND. If a foreign clinical trial is not conducted under an IND, the sponsor may submit data from the clinical trial to the FDA in support of the BLA so long as the clinical trial is well-designed and well-conducted in accordance with GCPs, including review and approval by an independent ethics committee, and the FDA is able to validate the clinical trial data through an onsite inspection, if necessary.

Further, each clinical trial must be reviewed and approved by the IRB or, if applicable, the Ethics Committee, either centrally or individually at each institution at which the clinical trial will be conducted. The IRB or the Ethics Committee will consider, among other things, clinical trial design, patient informed consent, ethical factors and the safety of human subjects. An IRB must operate in compliance with FDA regulations. The FDA, IRB, the Ethics Committee or the clinical trial sponsor may suspend or discontinue a clinical trial at any time for various reasons, including a finding that the clinical trial is not being conducted in accordance with FDA requirements or the subjects or patients are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk. Clinical testing also must satisfy extensive GCPs and the requirements for informed consent. Additionally, some clinical trials are overseen by an independent group of qualified experts organized by the clinical trial sponsor, known as a data safety monitoring board or committee. This group may recommend continuation of the clinical trial as planned, changes in clinical trial conduct, or cessation of the clinical trial at designated check points based on access to certain data from the clinical trial.

Clinical trials typically are conducted in three sequential phases, but the phases may overlap or be combined. Additional clinical trials may be required after approval.

• Phase 1 clinical trials are initially conducted in a limited population to test the product candidate for safety, including adverse effects, dose tolerance, absorption, metabolism, distribution, excretion and PD in healthy humans or, on occasion, in patients, such as cancer patients.
• Phase 2 POC clinical trials are generally conducted in a limited patient population to identify possible adverse effects and safety risks, evaluate the efficacy of the product candidate for specific targeted indications and determine dose tolerance and optimal dosage. Multiple Phase 2 clinical trials POC may be conducted by the sponsor to obtain information prior to beginning larger Phase 3 clinical trials.
• Phase 3 clinical trials proceed if the Phase 2 POC clinical trials demonstrate that a dose range of the product candidate is potentially effective and has an acceptable safety profile. Phase 3 clinical trials are undertaken within an expanded patient population to gather additional information about safety and effectiveness necessary to evaluate the overall benefit-risk relationship of the drug and to provide an adequate basis for physician labeling.

In some cases, the FDA may approve a BLA for a product candidate but require the sponsor to conduct additional clinical trials to further assess the product candidate’s safety and effectiveness after approval. Such post-approval clinical trials are typically referred to as Phase 4 clinical trials. These clinical trials are used to gain additional experience from the treatment of patients in the intended therapeutic indication and to document a clinical benefit in the case of biologics approved under accelerated approval regulations. If the FDA approves a product while a company has ongoing clinical trials that were not necessary for approval, a company may be able to use the data from these clinical trials to meet all or part of any Phase 4 clinical trial requirement or to request a change in the product labeling. Failure to exhibit due diligence with regard to conducting required Phase 4 clinical trials could result in withdrawal of approval for products.

Progress reports detailing the results of the clinical trials, among other information, must be submitted at least annually to the FDA, and written IND safety reports must be submitted to the FDA and the investigators 15 days after the clinical trial sponsor determines the information qualifies for reporting for serious and unexpected suspected adverse events, findings from other clinical trials or animal or in vitro testing that suggest a significant risk for human subjects and any clinically important increase in the rate of a serious suspected adverse reaction over that listed in the protocol or investigator brochure. The sponsor must also notify the FDA of any unexpected fatal or life-threatening suspected adverse reaction as soon as possible but in no case later than seven calendar days after the sponsor’s initial receipt of the information.

A drug being studied in clinical trials may be made available to individual patients in certain circumstances. Pursuant to the 21^st Century Cures Act, as amended, the manufacturer of an investigational drug for a serious disease or condition is required to make available, such as by posting on its website, its policy on evaluating and responding to requests for individual patient access to such investigational drug. This requirement applies on the earlier of the first initiation of a Phase 2 POC or Phase 3 clinical trial of the investigational drug, or as applicable, 15 days after the drug receives a designation as a breakthrough therapy, fast track product, or regenerative advanced therapy.

Compliance with cGMP Requirements

Before approving a BLA, the FDA typically will inspect the facility or facilities where the product is manufactured. The FDA will not approve an application unless it determines that the manufacturing processes and facilities are in compliance with cGMP requirements and adequate to assure consistent production of the product within required specifications. The PHSA emphasizes the importance of manufacturing control for products like biologics whose attributes cannot be precisely defined. The manufacturing process must be capable of consistently producing quality batches of the product candidate and, among other things, the sponsor must develop methods for testing the identity, strength, quality, potency, and purity of the final biological product. Additionally, appropriate packaging must be selected and tested, and stability studies must be conducted to demonstrate that the biological product candidate does not undergo unacceptable deterioration over its shelf life.

Manufacturers and others involved in the manufacture and distribution of products must also register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies. Both domestic and foreign manufacturing establishments must register and provide additional information to the FDA upon their initial participation in the manufacturing process. Establishments may be subject to periodic unannounced inspections by government authorities to ensure compliance with the FDCA, cGMPs and other requirements. Manufacturers may have to provide, on request, electronic or physical records regarding their establishments.

Disclosure of Clinical Trial Information

Sponsors of clinical trials of FDA-regulated products, including biological products, are required to register and disclose certain clinical trial information on the website www.clinicaltrials.gov. Information related to the product, patient population, phase of investigation, clinical trial sites and investigators, and other aspects of a clinical trial are then made public as part of the registration. Sponsors are also obligated to disclose the results of their clinical trials after completion. Disclosure of the results of clinical trials can be delayed in certain circumstances for up to two years after the date of completion of the clinical trial. Competitors may use this publicly available information to gain knowledge regarding the progress of clinical development programs as well as clinical trial design.

Review and Approval of a BLA

The results of product candidate development, preclinical testing and clinical trials, including negative or ambiguous results as well as positive findings, are submitted to the FDA as part of a BLA requesting a license to market the product. The BLA must contain extensive manufacturing information and detailed information on the composition of the product and proposed labeling as well as payment of a user fee.

The FDA has 60 days after submission of the application to conduct an initial review to determine whether the BLA is sufficient to file based on the agency’s threshold determination that it is sufficiently complete to permit substantive review. If the FDA determines the BLA is not sufficiently complete, it will refuse to file the BLA. Once the submission has been filed, the FDA begins an in-depth review of the application. Under the goals agreed to by the FDA under the PDUFA, the FDA has 10 months from the filing date in which to complete its initial review of a standard application and respond to the applicant, and six months from the filing date for a priority review of an application, if the BLA is not filed under the program. If the BLA is submitted under the program, additional two months are added to the review clock, whether standard or priority review for a total review time of 12 or 8 months, respectively. The FDA does not always meet its PDUFA goal dates for standard and priority reviews. The review process and the PDUFA goal date may also be extended by three months if the FDA so requests or if the applicant otherwise provides additional information or clarification regarding information already provided in the submission which may be deemed as substantial information.

After the FDA’s evaluation of the application and accompanying information, including the results of any potential inspections of the manufacturing facilities and any FDA audits of clinical trial sites to assure compliance with GCPs, the FDA will issue an approval letter, or a complete response letter. An approval letter authorizes commercial marketing of the product with specific prescribing information for specific indications. Under the PHSA, the FDA may approve a BLA if it determines that the product is safe, pure and potent and the facility where the product will be manufactured meets standards designed to ensure that it continues to be safe, pure and potent. If the application is not approved, the FDA will issue a complete response letter, which will identify the deficiencies in the application and the conditions that must be met in order to secure approval of the application, and when possible, will outline recommended actions the sponsor might take to obtain approval of the application. Sponsors that receive a complete response letter may submit to the FDA information that represents a complete response to the issues identified by the FDA, withdraw the application or request a hearing. The FDA will not approve an application until issues identified in the complete response letter have been addressed.

The FDA may also refer the application to an advisory committee for review, evaluation and recommendation as to whether the application should be approved. In particular, the FDA may refer applications for novel biological products or biological products that present difficult questions of safety or efficacy to an advisory committee. Typically, an advisory committee is a panel of independent experts, including clinicians and other scientific experts, that reviews, evaluates and provides a recommendation as to whether the application should be approved and under what conditions. The FDA is not bound by the recommendations of an advisory committee, but it considers such recommendations carefully when making decisions.

If the FDA approves a new product, it may limit the approved indications for use of the product. It may also require that contraindications, warnings or precautions be included in the product labeling. In addition, the FDA may call for post-approval studies, including Phase 4 clinical trials, to further assess the product’s safety after approval. The agency may also require testing and surveillance programs to monitor the product after commercialization, or impose other conditions, including distribution restrictions or other risk management mechanisms, including REMS, to help ensure that the benefits of the product outweigh the potential risks. REMS can include medication guides, communication plans for healthcare professionals and elements to assure safe use (ETASU). ETASU can include, but are not limited to, special training or certification for prescribing or dispensing, dispensing only under certain circumstances, special monitoring and the use of patent registries. The FDA may prevent or limit further marketing of a product based on the results of post-market studies or surveillance programs.

After approval, many types of changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications, manufacturing changes and additional labeling claims, are subject to further testing requirements and FDA review and approval.

Such regulatory reviews can result in denial or modification of the planned changes, or requirements to conduct additional tests or evaluations that can substantially delay or increase the cost of the planned changes.

Fast Track, Breakthrough Therapy and Priority Review Designations

The FDA is authorized to designate certain products for expedited review if they are intended to address an unmet medical need in the treatment of a serious or life-threatening disease or condition. These programs are referred to as fast track designation, breakthrough therapy designation and priority review designation.

The FDA may designate a product for fast track review if it is intended, whether alone or in combination with one or more other products, for the treatment of a serious or life-threatening disease or condition, and it demonstrates the potential to address unmet medical needs for such a disease or condition. For fast track products, sponsors may have greater interactions with the FDA and the FDA may initiate review of sections of a fast track product’s application before the application is complete. This rolling review may be available if the FDA determines, after preliminary evaluation of clinical data submitted by the sponsor, that a fast track product may be effective. The sponsor must also provide, and the FDA must approve, a schedule for the submission of the remaining information and the sponsor must pay applicable user fees. However, the FDA’s goal for reviewing a rolling review does not begin until the last section of the application is submitted. Fast track designation may be withdrawn by the FDA if the FDA believes that the designation is no longer supported by data emerging in the clinical trial process.

A product may be designated as a breakthrough therapy if it is intended, either alone or in combination with one or more other products, to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the product may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints, such as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development. The FDA may take certain actions with respect to breakthrough therapies, including holding meetings with the sponsor throughout the development process; providing timely advice to the product sponsor regarding development and approval; involving more senior staff in the review process; assigning a cross-disciplinary project lead for the review team; and taking other steps to design the clinical trials in an efficient manner.

The FDA may designate a product for priority review if it is a product that treats a serious condition and, if approved, would provide a significant improvement in safety or effectiveness. The FDA determines, on a case-by-case basis, whether the proposed product represents a significant improvement when compared with other available therapies. Significant improvement may be illustrated by evidence of increased effectiveness in the treatment of a condition, elimination or substantial reduction of a treatment-limiting product reaction, documented enhancement of patient compliance that may lead to improvement in serious outcomes and evidence of safety and effectiveness in a new subpopulation. A priority designation is intended to direct overall attention and resources to the evaluation of such applications, and to shorten the FDA’s goal for taking action on a marketing application from 10 months to 6 months.

Accelerated Approval Pathway

The FDA may grant accelerated approval to a product for a serious or life-threatening condition that provides meaningful therapeutic advantage to patients over existing treatments based upon a determination that the product has an effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit or on a clinical endpoint that can be measured earlier than an effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality (IMM) and that is reasonably likely to predict an effect on IMM or other clinical benefit, taking into account the severity, rarity, or prevalence of the condition and the availability or lack of alternative treatments. Products granted accelerated approval must meet the same statutory standards for safety and effectiveness as those granted traditional approval.

For the purposes of accelerated approval, a surrogate endpoint is a marker, such as a laboratory measurement, radio-graphic image, physical sign, or other measure that is thought to predict clinical benefit but is not itself a measure of clinical benefit. Surrogate endpoints can often be measured more easily or more rapidly than clinical endpoints. An intermediate clinical endpoint is a measurement of a therapeutic effect that is considered reasonably likely to predict the clinical benefit of a product, such as an effect on IMM. The FDA has limited experience with accelerated approvals based on intermediate clinical endpoints, but has indicated that such endpoints generally may support accelerated approval where the therapeutic effect measured by the endpoint is not itself a clinical benefit and basis for traditional approval, if there is a basis for concluding that the therapeutic effect is reasonably likely to predict the ultimate clinical benefit of a product.

The accelerated approval pathway is most often used in settings in which the course of a disease is long and an extended period of time is required to measure the intended clinical benefit of a product, even if the effect on the surrogate or intermediate clinical endpoint occurs rapidly. Thus, accelerated approval has been used extensively in the development and approval of products for treatment of a variety of cancers in which the goal of therapy is generally to improve survival or decrease morbidity and the duration of the typical disease course requires lengthy and sometimes large clinical trials to demonstrate a clinical or survival benefit.

The accelerated approval pathway is usually contingent on a sponsor’s agreement to conduct, in a diligent manner, a post-approval confirmatory clinical trial or studies to verify and describe the product’s clinical benefit. As a result, a product candidate approved on this basis is subject to rigorous post-marketing compliance requirements, including the completion of Phase 4 or post-approval clinical trials to confirm the effect on the clinical endpoint. These confirmatory clinical trials must be completed with due diligence, and the FDA may require that the confirmatory clinical trial be designed, initiated, and/or fully enrolled prior to approval. Failure to conduct required post-approval studies, or confirm a clinical benefit during post-marketing studies, would allow the FDA to withdraw the product from the market on an expedited basis. Unless otherwise informed by the FDA, all promotional materials for product candidates approved under accelerated regulations are subject to prior review by the agency. The Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act (FDORA), enacted in December 2022, included provisions related to the accelerated approval pathway. Pursuant to FDORA, the FDA is authorized to require a post-approval clinical trial to be underway prior to approval or within a specified time period following approval. FDORA also requires the FDA to specify the conditions of any required post-approval clinical trial not later than 180 days following approval and not less frequently than every 180 days thereafter until completion or termination of such clinical trial. Such conditions may include imposing milestones such as a target date of clinical trial completion or requiring sponsors to submit progress reports. FDORA also enables the FDA to initiate enforcement actions or criminal prosecutions for the failure to conduct with due diligence a required post-approval clinical trial, including a failure to meet any required conditions specified by the FDA or to submit timely reports.

Orphan Drug Designation

Orphan drug designation in the U.S. is designed to encourage sponsors to develop products intended for rare diseases or conditions. In the U.S., a rare disease or condition is statutorily defined as a condition that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the U.S. or that affects more than 200,000 individuals in the U.S. and for which there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making available the product for the disease or condition will be recovered from sales of the product in the U.S.

Orphan drug designation qualifies a company for tax credits and market exclusivity for seven years following the date of the product’s marketing approval if granted by the FDA and if it is the first FDA approval for that product for the disease for which it has such designation. An application for designation as an orphan product can be made any time prior to the filing of an application for approval to market the product. If the FDA grants orphan drug designation, the generic identity of the product and its potential orphan use are disclosed publicly by the FDA. The product must then go through the review and approval process like any other product in order to be marketed.

A sponsor may request orphan drug designation of a previously unapproved product or new orphan indication for an already marketed product. In addition, a sponsor of a product that is otherwise the same product as an already approved orphan drug may seek and obtain orphan drug designation for the subsequent product for the same rare disease or condition if it can present a plausible hypothesis that its product may be clinically superior to the first drug. Whether a large molecule product (i.e., a biological product) is the same as another product is based on whether the two products have the same principal molecular structural features. More than one sponsor may receive orphan drug designation for the same product for the same rare disease or condition, but each sponsor seeking orphan drug designation must file a complete request for designation.

If orphan drug exclusivity is granted by the FDA, the period of exclusivity begins on the date that the marketing application is approved by the FDA and applies only to the indication for which the product has been designated. The FDA may approve a second application for the same product for a different use or a second application for a clinically superior version of the product for the same use. The FDA cannot, however, approve the same product made by another sponsor for the same indication during the market exclusivity period unless it has the consent of the sponsor or the sponsor is unable to provide sufficient quantities of the product.

Post-Approval Regulation

If regulatory approval for marketing of a product or new indication for an existing product is obtained, the sponsor will be required to comply with all post-approval regulatory requirements as well as any post-approval requirements that the FDA has imposed as part of the approval process. The sponsor will be required to report certain adverse reactions and production problems to the FDA, provide updated safety and efficacy information and comply with requirements concerning advertising and promotional labeling. Manufacturers and other parties involved in the drug supply chain for prescription drug and biological products must also comply with product tracking and tracing requirements and for notifying the FDA of counterfeit, diverted, stolen and intentionally adulterated products or products that are otherwise unfit for distribution in the U.S. Manufacturers and certain of their subcontractors are required to register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies, and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and certain state agencies for compliance with ongoing regulatory requirements, including cGMPs, which impose certain procedural and documentation requirements upon manufacturers. Accordingly, the sponsor and its third-party manufacturers must continue to expend time, money and effort in the areas of production and quality control to maintain compliance with cGMPs and other regulatory requirements.

A biological product may also be subject to official lot release, meaning that the manufacturer is required to perform certain tests on each lot of the product before it is released for distribution. If the product is subject to official lot release, the manufacturer must submit samples of each lot, together with a release protocol showing a summary of the history of manufacture of the lot and the results of all of the manufacturer’s tests performed on the lot, to the FDA. The FDA may in addition perform certain confirmatory tests on lots of some products before releasing the lots for distribution. Finally, the FDA will conduct laboratory research related to the safety, purity, potency and effectiveness of pharmaceutical products. Any distribution of prescription biological products and pharmaceutical samples must comply with the U.S. Prescription Drug Marketing Act and the PHSA.

Once an approval is granted, the FDA may revoke or suspend the approval of the BLA if compliance with regulatory requirements and standards is not maintained or if problems occur after the product reaches the market. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in revisions to the approved labeling to add new safety information; imposition of post-market studies or clinical trials to assess new safety risks; or imposition of distribution or other restrictions under a REMS program. FDA also has authority to require post-market studies, in certain circumstances, on reduced effectiveness of a product and may require labeling changes related to new reduced effectiveness information. Other potential consequences for a failure to maintain regulatory compliance include, among other things:

• restrictions on the marketing or manufacturing of the product, complete withdrawal of the product from the market or product recalls;
• fines, untitled letters or warning letters or holds on post-approval clinical trials;
• refusal of the FDA to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications, or suspension or revocation of product license approvals;
• product seizure or detention, or refusal to permit the import or export of products; or
• injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.

The FDA strictly regulates marketing, labeling, advertising and promotion of products that are placed on the market. Pharmaceutical products may be promoted only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved labeling. Although physicians may prescribe legally available products for unapproved uses or in patient populations that are not described in the product’s approved labeling (known as “off-label use”), companies with approved products may not market or promote such off-label uses. The FDA does not regulate the behavior of physicians in their choice of treatments, but the FDA regulations do impose stringent restrictions on manufacturers’ communications regarding off-label uses. The FDA and other agencies actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses, and a company that is found to have improperly promoted off-label uses may be subject to significant liability, including investigation by federal and state authorities. Prescription biological product promotional materials must be submitted to the FDA in conjunction with their first use or first publication.

Pediatric Studies and Exclusivity

Under the Pediatric Research Equity Act of 2003 (as amended, PREA), a BLA or supplement thereto must contain data that are adequate to assess the safety and effectiveness of the product for the claimed indications in all relevant pediatric sub-populations, and to support dosing and administration for each pediatric subpopulation for which the product is safe and effective. Sponsors must also submit pediatric clinical trial plans prior to the assessment data. Those plans must contain an outline of the proposed pediatric clinical trial or studies the applicant plans to conduct, including clinical trial objectives and design, any deferral or waiver requests and other information required by regulation. The applicant, the FDA, and the FDA’s internal review committee must then review the information submitted, consult with each other and agree upon a final plan. The FDA or the applicant may request an amendment to the plan at any time.

The FDA may, on its own initiative or at the request of the applicant, grant deferrals for submission of some or all pediatric data until after approval of the product for use in adults, or full or partial waivers from the pediatric data requirements. Unless otherwise required by regulation, PREA does not apply to a biologic for an indication for which orphan designation has been granted, except that PREA will apply to an original BLA for a new active ingredient that is orphan-designated if the biologic is a molecularly targeted cancer product intended for the treatment of an adult cancer and is directed at a molecular target that FDA determines to be substantially relevant to the growth or progression of a pediatric cancer.

Pediatric exclusivity is another type of non-patent marketing exclusivity in the U.S. and, if granted, provides for the attachment of an additional six months of marketing protection to the term of any existing regulatory exclusivity. This six-month exclusivity may be granted if a BLA sponsor submits pediatric data that fairly respond to a written request from the FDA for such data. The data do not need to show the product to be effective in the pediatric population studied; rather, if the clinical trial is deemed to fairly respond to the FDA’s request, the additional protection is granted. If reports of requested pediatric studies are submitted to and accepted by the FDA within the statutory time limits, whatever statutory or regulatory periods of exclusivity cover the product are extended by six months.

Biosimilars and Exclusivity

The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA) established a regulatory scheme authorizing the FDA to approve biosimilars and interchangeable biosimilars.

Under the BPCIA, an applicant may submit an application for licensure of a biologic product that is “biosimilar to” or “interchangeable with” a previously approved biological product or “reference product.” For the FDA to approve a biosimilar product, it must find that there are no clinically meaningful differences between the reference product and proposed biosimilar product in terms of safety, purity and potency. For the FDA to approve a biosimilar product as interchangeable with a reference product, the agency must find that the biosimilar product can be expected to produce the same clinical results as the reference product, and (for products administered multiple times) that the biologic and the reference biologic may be switched after one has been previously administered without increasing safety risks or risks of diminished efficacy relative to exclusive use of the reference biologic.

Under the BPCIA, an application for a biosimilar product may not be submitted to the FDA until four years following the date of approval of the reference product. The FDA may not approve a biosimilar product until 12 years from the date on which the reference product was approved. Even if a product is considered to be a reference product eligible for exclusivity, another company could market a competing version of that product if the FDA approves a full BLA for such product containing the sponsor’s own preclinical data and data from adequate and well-controlled clinical trials to demonstrate the safety, purity and potency of their product. However, to rely on such exclusivities for establishing or protecting our market position is not without risk, as such laws are subject to changes by the legislature. The BPCIA also created certain exclusivity periods for biosimilars approved as interchangeable products. Products deemed interchangeable by the FDA may be substituted by pharmacies as dictated by individual state law.

U.S. Patent Term Restoration

Depending upon the timing, duration and specifics of FDA approval of our product candidates, some of our U.S. patents may be eligible for limited patent term extension under the Hatch-Waxman Act that permits restoration of the patent term of up to five years as compensation for patent term lost during the FDA regulatory review process. Patent-term restoration, however, cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the product’s approval date and only those claims covering such approved product, a method for using it or a method for manufacturing it may be extended. The patent-term restoration period is generally one-half the time between the effective date of an IND and the submission date of a BLA plus the time between the submission date of a BLA and the approval of that application, except that the review period is reduced by any time during which the applicant failed to exercise due diligence. Only one patent applicable to an approved biologic is eligible for the extension and the application for the extension must be submitted within sixty (60) days of approval from FDA and prior to the expiration of the patent. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), in consultation with the FDA, reviews and approves the application for any patent term extension or restoration. In the future, we may apply for restoration of patent term for our currently owned or licensed patents to add patent life beyond its current expiration date, depending on the expected length of the clinical trials and other factors involved in the filing of the relevant BLA.