Avalanche or Roadblock: FDA Publishes Flurries of Biologic and Biosimilar Materials

The proposed technical correction regulation, the other two guidance documents, and the list deal with the transition of certain biological products from NDAs to BLAs.  Starting with the simplest, the proposed (so-called) technical correction would amend the definition of “biological product” in 21 C.F.R. § 600.3(h) to conform to the definition implemented in the BPCIA and provide an interpretation of the statutory terms “protein” and “chemically synthesized polypeptide.”  FDA calls it a “technical correction” in the proposed rule, but this isn’t really technical, nor is it a correction.  Indeed, it reflects a significant change to the definition of biological product because the rule would replace the phrase  “means any” with the phrase “means a” and would add the phrase “protein (except any chemically synthesized polypeptide)” to the definition of “biological product.”  Consistent with the April 2015 Questions & Answers guidance, the proposed rule would amend 21 C.F.R. § 600.3(h) to further define protein as any alpha amino acid polymer with a specific defined sequence that is greater than 40 amino acids in size, and the term chemically synthesized polypeptide as any alpha amino acid polymer that: (1) is made entirely by chemical synthesis and (2) is greater than 40 amino acids but less than 100 amino acids in size.  Given that that FDA has been using this definition since the publication of the April 2015 final version of this Question and Answer guidance,  this proposed regulation is unlikely to catch industry by surprise.  But this is just one of multiple steps FDA is taking to prepare industry for the March 2020 transition of certain biological products approved under NDAs to BLAs.
— Read on www.fdalawblog.net/2019/01/avalanche-or-roadblock-fda-publishes-flurries-of-biologic-and-biosimilar-materials/