[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 72 (Tuesday, April 14, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20693-20694]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-07752]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2018-D-4662]


International Cooperation on Harmonisation of Technical 
Requirements for Registration of Veterinary Medicinal Products; 
Stability Testing of New Veterinary Drug Substances and Medicinal 
Products in Climatic Zones III and IV; Guidance for Industry; 
Availability

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing 
the availability of a final guidance for industry (GFI) #259 entitled 
``Stability Testing of New Veterinary Drug Substances and Medicinal 
Products in Climatic Zones III and IV'' (VICH GL58). This guidance has 
been developed for veterinary use by the International Cooperation on 
Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Veterinary 
Medicinal Products (VICH). This VICH guidance document is an annex to 
the VICH parent stability guidance, GFI #73 (VICH GL3(R)), ``Stability 
Testing of New Veterinary Drug Substances and Medicinal Products 
(Revision),'' and provides guidance regarding the stability data 
package for a new veterinary drug substance and medicinal product to be 
included in a registration or application submitted within the regions 
in climatic zones III and IV.

DATES: The announcement of the guidance is published in the Federal 
Register on April 14, 2020.

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-4662 for ``Stability Testing of New Veterinary Drug 
Substances and Medicinal Products in Climatic Zones III and IV.'' 
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.
     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.
    You may submit comments on any guidance at any time (see 21 CFR 
10.115(g)(5)).
    Submit written requests for single copies of the guidance to the 
Policy and Regulations Staff (HFV-6), Center for Veterinary Medicine, 
Food and Drug Administration, 7500 Standish Pl., Rockville, MD 20855. 
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: Mai Huynh, Center for Veterinary 
Medicine (HFV-140), Food and Drug Administration, 7500 Standish Pl., 
Rockville, MD 20855, 240-402-0669, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    FDA is announcing the availability of final GFI #259 entitled 
``Stability Testing of New Veterinary Drug Substances and Medicinal 
Products in Climatic Zones III and IV'' (VICH GL58). In recent years, 
many important

[[Page 20694]]

initiatives have been undertaken by regulatory authorities and industry 
associations to promote the international harmonization of regulatory 
requirements. FDA has participated in efforts to enhance harmonization 
and has expressed its commitment to seek scientifically based, 
harmonized technical procedures for the development of pharmaceutical 
products. One of the goals of harmonization is to identify, and then 
reduce, differences in technical requirements for drug development 
among regulatory agencies in different countries. FDA has actively 
participated in the International Council for Harmonisation of 
Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use to develop 
harmonized technical requirements for the approval of human 
pharmaceutical and biological products among the European Union, Japan, 
and the United States. The VICH is a parallel initiative for veterinary 
medicinal products. The VICH is concerned with developing harmonized 
technical requirements for the approval of veterinary medicinal 
products in the European Union, Japan, and the United States, and 
includes input from both regulatory and industry representatives.
    The VICH Steering Committee is composed of member representatives 
from the European Commission and European Medicines Agency, 
International Federation for Animal Health--Europe; FDA; the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture; the U.S. Animal Health Institute; the 
Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries; and the 
Japanese Veterinary Products Association. Six observers are eligible to 
participate in the VICH Steering Committee: One representative from the 
government of Australia/New Zealand, one representative from the 
industry in Australia/New Zealand, one representative from the 
government of Canada, one representative from the industry in Canada, 
one representative from the government of South Africa, and one 
representative from the industry in South Africa. The VICH Secretariat, 
which coordinates the preparation of documentation, is provided by 
HealthforAnimals.

II. Guidance for Industry on Stability Testing of New Veterinary Drug 
Substances and Medicinal Products in Climatic Zones III and IV

    In the Federal Register of December 28, 2018 (83 FR 67289), FDA 
published the notice of availability for a draft guidance entitled 
``Stability Testing of New Veterinary Drug Substances and Medicinal 
Products in Climatic Zones III and IV'' (VICH GL58), giving interested 
persons until February 26, 2019, to comment on the draft guidance. FDA 
did not receive comments on the draft guidance. Comments received by 
other VICH member regulatory agencies were considered as the guidance 
was finalized. The guidance announced in this notice finalizes the 
draft guidance dated December 2018.
    The VICH Steering Committee held a meeting in September 2019 and 
agreed that the final guidance document entitled ``Stability Testing of 
New Veterinary Drug Substances and Medicinal Products in Climatic Zones 
III and IV'' (VICH GL58) should be made available for implementation. 
This guidance document is an annex to the VICH parent stability 
guidance, GFI #73 (VICH GL3(R)), ``Stability Testing of New Veterinary 
Drug Substances and Medicinal Products (Revision),'' \1\ and provides 
guidance regarding the stability data package for a new veterinary drug 
substance and medicinal product to be included in a registration or 
application submitted within the regions in climatic zones III and IV. 
This guidance provides additional guidance on the storage conditions 
for stability testing in countries located in Climatic Zones III (hot 
and dry) and IVB (hot and very humid), which are not covered by GFI #73 
(VICH GL3(R)). This guidance document seeks to exemplify the core 
stability data package for new veterinary drug substances and medicinal 
products, but leaves flexibility to encompass the variety of different 
practical situations that may be encountered due to specific scientific 
considerations and characteristics of the materials being evaluated.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ https://www.fda.gov/media/70241/download.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

III. Significance of Guidance

    This guidance, developed under the VICH process, is being issued 
consistent with FDA's good guidance practices regulation (21 CFR 
10.115). For example, the document has been designated ``guidance'' 
rather than ``guideline.'' In addition, guidance documents do not 
include mandatory language such as ``shall,'' ``must,'' ``require,'' or 
``requirement,'' unless FDA is using these words to describe a 
statutory or regulatory requirement.
    The guidance represents the current thinking of FDA on this topic. 
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.

IV. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    This guidance refers to previously approved FDA collections of 
information. These collections of information are subject to review by 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521). The collections of information in 21 
CFR part 514 have been approved under OMB control number 0910-0032.

V. Electronic Access

    Persons with access to the internet may obtain the final guidance 
at either https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/guidance-regulations/guidance-industry or https://www.regulations.gov.

    Dated: April 7, 2020.
Lowell J. Schiller,
Principal Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2020-07752 Filed 4-13-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4164-01-P