Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting; Establishment of a Public Docket; Request for Comments

AGENCY:

Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice; establishment of a public docket; request for comments.

SUMMARY:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or the Agency) announces a forthcoming public advisory committee meeting of the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee. The general function of the committee is to provide advice on scientific, technical, and medical issues concerning drug compounding under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), and, as required, any other product for which FDA has regulatory responsibility, and to make appropriate recommendations to the Agency. The meeting will be open to the public. FDA is establishing a docket for public comment on this document.

DATES:

The meeting will be held on June 9, 2021, from 10 a.m. to 5:05 p.m. Eastern Time.

ADDRESSES:

Please note that due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, all meeting participants will be joining this advisory committee meeting via an online teleconferencing platform. Answers to commonly asked questions about FDA advisory committee meetings may be accessed at: https://www.fda.gov/AdvisoryCommittees/AboutAdvisoryCommittees/ucm408555.htm.

FDA is establishing a docket for public comment on this meeting. The docket number is FDA-2021-N-0357. The docket will close on June 8, 2021. Submit either electronic or written comments on this public meeting by June 8, 2021. Please note that late, untimely filed comments will not be considered. Electronic comments must be submitted on or before June 8, 2021. The https://www.regulations.gov electronic filing system will accept comments until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time at the end of June 8, 2021. Comments received by mail/hand delivery/courier (for written/paper submissions) will be considered timely if they are postmarked or the delivery service acceptance receipt is on or before that date.

Comments received on or before May 26, 2021, will be provided to the committee. Comments received after that date will be taken into consideration by FDA. In the event that the meeting is cancelled, FDA will continue to evaluate any relevant applications or information, and consider any comments submitted to the docket, as appropriate.

You may submit comments 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-2021-N-0357 for “Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting; Establishment of a Public Docket; Request for Comments.” Received comments, those filed in a timely manner (see ADDRESSES), 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.” FDA 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 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 the 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Takyiah Stevenson, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 31, Rm. 2417, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, 240-402-2507, Fax: 301-847-8533, email: PCAC@fda.hhs.gov, or FDA Advisory Committee Information Line, 1-800-741-8138 (301-443-0572 in the Washington, DC area). A notice in the Federal Register about last-minute modifications that impact a previously announced advisory committee meeting cannot always be published quickly enough to provide timely notice. Therefore, you should always check FDA's website at https://www.fda.gov/AdvisoryCommittees/default.htm and scroll down to the appropriate advisory committee meeting link, or call the advisory committee information line to learn about possible modifications before coming to the meeting.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background: Section 503A of the FD&C Act (21 U.S.C. 353a) describes the conditions that must be satisfied for human drug products compounded by a licensed pharmacist in a State licensed pharmacy or a Federal facility, or a licensed physician, to be exempt from the following three sections of the FD&C Act: (1) Section 501(a)(2)(B) (21 U.S.C. 351(a)(2)(B)) (concerning current good manufacturing practice); (2) section 502(f)(1) (21 U.S.C. 352(f)(1)) (concerning the labeling of drugs with adequate directions for use); and (3) section 505 (21 U.S.C. 355) (concerning the approval of human drug products under new drug applications or abbreviated new drug applications).

Section 503B of the FD&C Act (21 U.S.C. 353b) describes the conditions that must be satisfied for drug products compounded in an outsourcing facility to be exempt from (1) section 502(f)(1), (2) section 505, and (3) section 582 (21 U.S.C. 360eee-1) (concerning drug supply chain security requirements) of the FD&C Act.

One of the conditions that must be satisfied for a drug product to qualify for the exemptions under section 503A of the FD&C Act is that the licensed pharmacist or licensed physician compounds the drug product using bulk drug substances (as defined in 21 CFR 207.3) that: (1) Comply with the standards of an applicable United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) or National Formulary monograph, if a monograph exists, and the USP chapter on pharmacy compounding; (2) if an applicable monograph does not exist, are drug substances that are components of drugs approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary); or (3) if such a monograph does not exist and the drug substance is not a component of a drug approved by the Secretary, that appear on a list developed by the Secretary through regulations issued by the Secretary under section 503A(c) of the FD&C Act (the “503A Bulks List”) (see section 503A(b)(1)(A)(i) of the FD&C Act).

One of the conditions that must be satisfied to qualify for the exemptions under section 503A or section 503B of the FD&C Act is that the drug that is compounded does not appear on a list published by the Secretary of drugs that have been withdrawn or removed from the market because such drug products or components of such drug products have been found to be unsafe or not effective (“Withdrawn or Removed List”) (see sections 503A(b)(1)(C) and 503B(a)(4) of the FD&C Act). The Withdrawn or Removed List is codified at 21 CFR 216.24.

Agenda: The meeting presentations will be heard, viewed, captioned, and recorded through an online teleconferencing platform. The committee will discuss the following four bulk drug substances nominated for inclusion on the 503A Bulks List: Choline chloride, oxitriptan (also known as 5-hydroxytryptophan or 5-HTP), melatonin, and methylcobalamin. The chart below identifies the use(s) FDA reviewed for each of the four bulk drug substances being discussed at this advisory committee meeting. The nominators of these substances or another interested party will be invited to make a short presentation supporting the nomination.

The committee will also discuss revisions FDA is considering to the Withdrawn or Removed List. FDA now is considering whether to amend the rule to add one more entry to the list: Neomycin Sulfate: All parenteral drug products containing neomycin sulfate (except for ophthalmic or otic use, or when combined with polymyxin B sulfate for irrigation of the intact bladder). As previously explained in the Federal Register of July 2, 2014 (79 FR 37687 at 37689 through 37690), the list may specify that a drug may not be compounded in any form, or, alternatively, may expressly exclude a particular formulation, indication, dosage form, or route of administration from an entry on the list. Moreover, a drug may be listed only with regard to certain formulations, indications, routes of administration, or dosage forms because it has been found to be unsafe or not effective in those particular formulations, indications, routes of administration, or dosage forms. FDA plans to seek the committee's advice concerning the inclusion of this drug product on the list.

FDA intends to make background material available to the public no later than 2 business days before the meeting. If FDA is unable to post the background material on its website prior to the meeting, the background material will be made publicly available on FDA's website at the time of the advisory committee meeting. Background material and the link to the online teleconference meeting room will be available at https://www.fda.gov/AdvisoryCommittees/Calendar/default.htm. Scroll down to the appropriate advisory committee meeting link. The meeting will include slide presentations with audio components to allow the presentation of materials in a manner that most closely resembles an in-person advisory committee meeting. Procedure: Interested persons may present data, information, or views, orally or in writing, on issues pending before the committee. All electronic and written submissions submitted to the Docket (see ADDRESSES) on or before May 26, 2021, will be provided to the committee. Oral presentations from the public will be scheduled between approximately 11 a.m. to 11:15 a.m., 12:25 p.m. to 12:40 p.m., 2:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., 3:35 p.m. to 3:50 p.m., and 4:40 p.m. to 4:55 p.m. Eastern Time. Those individuals interested in making formal oral presentations should notify the contact person and submit a brief statement of the general nature of the evidence or arguments they wish to present, the names and addresses of proposed participants, and an indication of the approximate time requested to make their presentation on or before May 17, 2021. Time allotted for each presentation may be limited. If the number of registrants requesting to speak is greater than can be reasonably accommodated during the scheduled open public hearing session, FDA may conduct a lottery to determine the speakers for the scheduled open public hearing session. The contact person will notify interested persons regarding their request to speak by May 18, 2021.

For press inquiries, please contact the Office of Media Affairs at fdaoma@fda.hhs.gov or 301-796-4540.

FDA welcomes the attendance of the public at its advisory committee meetings and will make every effort to accommodate persons with disabilities. If you require accommodations due to a disability, please contact Takyiah Stevenson (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) at least 7 days in advance of the meeting.

FDA is committed to the orderly conduct of its advisory committee meetings. Please visit our website at https://www.fda.gov/AdvisoryCommittees/AboutAdvisoryCommittees/ucm111462.htm for procedures on public conduct during advisory committee meetings.

Notice of this meeting is given under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. app. 2).