Field Alert Report Submission: Questions and Answers; Guidance for Industry; Availability

AGENCY:

Food and Drug Administration, Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION:

Notice of availability.

SUMMARY:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a final guidance for industry entitled “Field Alert Report Submission: Questions and Answers.” This guidance provides FDA's current thinking regarding the requirements for submission of field alert reports (FARs) by applicants of new drug applications (NDAs) and abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) and outlines FDA's recommendations for FAR submissions to help improve their consistency and relevancy. The guidance also addresses certain frequently asked questions about FARs. This guidance finalizes the draft guidance of the same title issued on July 19, 2018.

DATES:

The announcement of the guidance is published in the Federal Register on July 23, 2021.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit either electronic or written comments on Agency guidances at any time as follows:

Electronic Submissions

Submit electronic comments in the following way:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted electronically, including attachments, to https://www.regulations.gov will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment does not include any confidential information that you or a third party may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone else's Social Security number, or confidential business information, such as a manufacturing process. Please note that if you include your name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in the body of your comments, that information will be posted on https://www.regulations.gov.
• If you want to submit a comment with confidential information that you do not wish to be made available to the public, submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner detailed (see “Written/Paper Submissions” and “Instructions”).

Written/Paper Submissions

Submit written/paper submissions as follows:

• Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier (for written/paper submissions): Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
• For written/paper comments submitted to the Dockets Management Staff, FDA will post your comment, as well as any attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified, as confidential, if submitted as detailed in “Instructions.”

Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket No. FDA-2018-D-2326 for “Field Alert Report Submission: Questions and Answers.” Received comments will be placed in the docket and, except for those submitted as “Confidential Submissions,” publicly viewable at https://www.regulations.gov or at the Dockets Management Staff between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, 240-402-7500.

• Confidential Submissions—To submit a comment with confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly available, submit your comments only as a written/paper submission. You should submit two copies total. One copy will include the information you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover note that states “THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.” The Agency will review this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in its consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the claimed confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be available for public viewing and posted on https://www.regulations.gov. Submit both copies to the Dockets Management Staff. If you do not wish your name and contact information to be made publicly available, you can provide this information on the cover sheet and not in the body of your comments and you must identify this information as “confidential.” Any information marked as “confidential” will not be disclosed except in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other applicable disclosure law. For more information about FDA's posting of comments to public dockets, see 80 FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or access the information at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2015-09-18/pdf/2015-23389.pdf.

Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in the heading of this document, into the “Search” box and follow the prompts and/or go to the Dockets Management Staff, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852, 240-402-7500.

You may submit comments on any guidance at any time (see 21 CFR 10.115(g)(5)).

Submit written requests for single copies of this guidance to the Division of Drug Information, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10001 New Hampshire Ave., Hillandale Building, 4th Floor, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, or to the Office of Communication, Outreach and Development, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 71, Rm. 3128, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002. Send one self-addressed adhesive label to assist that office in processing your requests. See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for electronic access to the guidance document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mohamed Ghorab, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 51, Rm. 3141, Silver Spring, MD, 20993-0002, 240-402-8940; or Stephen Ripley, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 71, Rm. 7301, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, 240-402-7911.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

FDA is announcing the availability of a guidance for industry entitled “Field Alert Report Submission: Questions and Answers.” The FAR regulations found in § 314.81(b)(1) (21 CFR 314.81(b)(1)) and 21 CFR 314.98(b) establish an early warning system to help FDA fulfill its responsibility to protect patient health. Under these regulations, NDA and ANDA applicants must submit certain information to FDA about distributed drug products regulated by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research or the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

The guidance addresses the FAR submission requirements and focuses on topics such as the incidents and possible/actual quality issues that require submission of a FAR, the contents of the FAR, who submits the FAR, and when, where, and how they should submit it. The guidance also addresses followup and final FARs, which are not required under § 314.81(b), and recommends their submission to inform FDA of the status of root cause investigations and corrective actions taken, if any.

This guidance finalizes the draft guidance issued on July 19, 2018 (83 FR 34142). In response to public comments, FDA made minor editorial changes and clarified that the FAR requirements apply to all products under an NDA or ANDA, including positron emission tomography drugs, designated medical gases, and combination products containing a drug constituent part. Although not the focus of this guidance, FDA notes that FAR requirements also apply to certain combination products under 21 CFR part 4, subpart B. For additional information about these products, see the guidance for industry and FDA staff “Postmarketing Safety Reporting for Combination Products,” available at https://www.fda.gov/media/111788/download,, and the Postmarketing Safety Reporting for Combination Products web page at https://www.fda.gov/combination-products/guidance-regulatory-information/postmarketing-safety-reporting-combination-products. FDA may consider whether additional adjustments are needed to guidance or FAR-related instructions for biologics license applications or device applications for combination products that contain a drug constituent part as the Agency gains experience with safety reporting for such products.

This guidance is being issued consistent with FDA's good guidance practices regulation (21 CFR 10.115). The guidance represents the current thinking of FDA on “Field Report Alert Submission.” It does not establish any rights for any person and is not binding on FDA or the public. You can use an alternative approach if it satisfies the requirements of the applicable statutes and regulations.

II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

While this guidance contains no collection of information, it does refer to previously approved FDA collections of information. Therefore, clearance by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521) is not required for this guidance. The previously approved collections of information are subject to review by OMB under the PRA. The collections of information in 21 CFR part 314 have been approved under OMB control number 0910-0001.

III. Electronic Access

Persons with access to the internet may obtain the guidance at https://www.fda.gov/drugs/guidance-compliance-regulatory-information/guidances-drugs,, https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/guidance-compliance-regulatory-information-biologics,, https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents,, or https://www.regulations.gov.