[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 105 (Monday, June 1, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33167-33169]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11682]


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

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2020-D-1068]


Orange Book--Questions and Answers; Draft Guidance for Industry; 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the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled ``Orange 
Book--Questions and Answers.'' This guidance is intended to assist 
interested parties (including prospective drug product applicants, drug 
product applicants, and approved application holders) in utilizing the 
Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations 
(commonly known as the

[[Page 33168]]

Orange Book). This guidance provides answers to commonly asked 
questions FDA has received from interested parties regarding the Orange 
Book.

DATES: Submit either electronic or written comments on the draft 
guidance by August 31, 2020 to ensure that the Agency considers your 
comment on this draft guidance before it begins work on the final 
version of the guidance.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on any guidance 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-2020-D-1068 for ``Orange Book--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.
     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 draft 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. Send one 
self-addressed adhesive label to assist that office in processing your 
requests. See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for electronic 
access to the draft guidance document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Giaquinto Friedman, Center 
for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 
New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 75, Rm. 1670, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, 
240-402-7930, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    FDA is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry 
entitled ``Orange Book--Questions and Answers.'' This guidance is 
intended to assist interested parties (including prospective drug 
product applicants, drug product applicants, and approved application 
holders) in utilizing the Orange Book. This guidance provides answers 
to commonly asked questions FDA has received from interested parties 
regarding the Orange Book.
    The Orange Book identifies drug products approved by FDA under the 
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and related patent and exclusivity 
information. The main criteria for the inclusion of a drug product in 
the Orange Book are that the drug product is the subject of an approved 
application and that FDA has not determined the drug product to have 
been withdrawn from sale for safety or effectiveness reasons. In 
addition, the Orange Book contains therapeutic equivalence evaluations 
for approved multisource prescription drug products. These evaluations 
have been prepared to serve as public information and advice to state 
health agencies, prescribers, and pharmacists to promote public 
education on drug product selection and to foster containment of health 
care costs.
    This guidance provides answers to questions that have been received 
by FDA staff that manage the Orange Book. The questions and answers 
cover the following topics: General inquiries about the content and 
format of the Orange Book, petitioned abbreviated new drug 
applications, the movement of drug products between different sections 
in the Orange Book, and patent listings.
    This draft guidance is being issued consistent with FDA's good 
guidance practices regulation (21 CFR 10.115). The draft guidance, when 
finalized, will represent the current thinking of FDA on ``Orange 
Book--Questions and Answers.'' 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.

[[Page 33169]]

II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    This draft 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 314.50(a) through (f), (i), (h), and (k) and 
314.94 have been approved under OMB control number 0910-0001. The 
collections of information in 21 CFR 314.50(h), 314.53, Form FDA 3542, 
and Form FDA 3542a, have been approved under OMB control number 0910-
0513.

III. Electronic Access

    Persons with access to the internet may obtain the draft guidance 
at either https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/Guidances/default.htm or 
https://www.regulations.gov.

    Dated: May 26, 2020.
Lowell J. Schiller,
Principal Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2020-11682 Filed 5-29-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4164-01-P