[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 7, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37257-37259]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-12099]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2023-D-1955]


E6(R3) Guideline for Good Clinical Practice; International 
Council for Harmonisation; Draft Guidance for Industry; Availability

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing 
the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled ``E6(R3) 
Guideline for Good Clinical Practice.'' The draft guidance was prepared 
under the auspices of the International Council for Harmonisation of 
Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH). The 
draft guidance outlines modernized Good Clinical Practice 
considerations to guide thoughtful design and responsible conduct of 
clinical trials in a manner that ensures participant safety and the 
reliability of trial results. This draft guidance encourages 
innovation, focuses on quality, and establishes proportionate and risk-
based approaches for conducting clinical trials, while minimizing 
unnecessary complexities. The draft guidance is intended to provide 
flexible, modern, and clear Good Clinical Practice for conducting 
clinical trials.

DATES: Submit either electronic or written comments on the draft 
guidance by September 5, 2023 to ensure that the Agency considers your 
comment on this draft guidance before it begins work on the final 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-2023-D-1955 for ``E6(R3) Guideline for Good Clinical Practice.'' 
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.

[[Page 37258]]

    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, or 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. The guidance may also be obtained by mail by calling 
Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at 800-835-4709 or 240-
402-8010. See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for electronic 
access to the draft guidance document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
    Regarding the guidance: Amy Chi, Center for Drug Evaluation and 
Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 
51, Rm. 6334, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, 240-402-0992, 
[email protected]; or Diane Maloney, 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, 
[email protected].
    Regarding the ICH: Jill Adleberg, Center for Drug Evaluation and 
Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 
51, Rm. 6364, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, 301-796-5259, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    FDA is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry 
entitled ``E6(R3) Guideline for Good Clinical Practice.'' The draft 
guidance was prepared under the auspices of ICH. ICH seeks to achieve 
greater regulatory harmonization worldwide to ensure that safe, 
effective, high-quality medicines are developed, registered, and 
maintained in the most resource-efficient manner.
    By harmonizing the regulatory requirements in regions around the 
world, ICH guidelines enhance global drug development, improve 
manufacturing standards, and increase the availability of medications. 
For example, ICH guidelines have substantially reduced duplicative 
clinical studies, prevented unnecessary animal studies, standardized 
the reporting of important safety information, and standardized 
marketing application submissions.
    The six Founding Members of the ICH are FDA; the Pharmaceutical 
Research and Manufacturers of America; the European Commission; the 
European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries Associations; the 
Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare; and the Japanese 
Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association. The Standing Members of the 
ICH Association include Health Canada and Swissmedic. ICH membership 
continues to expand to include other regulatory authorities and 
industry associations from around the world (refer to https://www.ich.org/).
    ICH works by engaging global regulatory and industry experts in a 
detailed, science-based, and consensus-driven process that results in 
the development of ICH guidelines. The regulators around the world are 
committed to consistently adopting these consensus-based guidelines, 
realizing the benefits for patients and for industry.
    As a Founding Regulatory Member of ICH, FDA plays a major role in 
the development of each of the ICH guidelines, which FDA then adopts 
and issues as guidance for industry. FDA's guidance documents do not 
establish legally enforceable responsibilities. Instead, they describe 
the Agency's current thinking on a topic and should be viewed only as 
recommendations, unless specific regulatory or statutory requirements 
are cited.
    In May 2023, the ICH Assembly endorsed the draft guideline entitled 
``E6(R3) Guideline for Good Clinical Practice'' and agreed that the 
guideline should be made available for public comment. The draft 
guideline is the product of the Efficacy Expert Working Group of the 
ICH. Comments about this draft will be considered by FDA and the 
Efficacy Expert Working Group.
    The draft guidance on Good Clinical Practice is intended to support 
the responsible conduct of clinical trials in a manner that safeguards 
participant safety and the reliability of trial results. This guidance 
facilitates the use of innovations and encourages a focus on the 
important aspects in trial, while minimizing unnecessary complexities.
    This draft guidance has been left in the original ICH format. The 
final guidance will be reformatted and edited to conform with FDA's 
good guidance practices regulation (21 CFR 10.115) and style before 
publication. The draft guidance, when finalized, will represent the 
current thinking of FDA on ``E6(R3) Guideline for Good Clinical 
Practice.'' 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 found in 21 CFR part 312 for investigational new drug 
applications have been approved under OMB control number 0910-0014. The 
collections of information under 21 CFR part 312.145 pertaining to good 
clinical practice have been approved under OMB control number 0910-
0843. The collections of information found in 21 CFR parts 50 and 56 
pertaining to protection of human subjects, institutional review boards 
and informed consent have been approved under OMB control number 0910-
0130. The collections of information found in 21 CFR part 314 relating 
to the review of new drug applications have been approved under OMB 
control number 0910-0001. The collections of information found in 21 
CFR part 601 relating to the review of biologic licensing applications 
have been approved under OMB control number 0910-0338. The collections 
of information found in 21 CFR part 11 pertaining to electronic records 
and electronic signatures have been approved under OMB control number 
0910-0303. The collections of information found in 21 CFR parts 210 and 
211 pertaining to current good manufacturing practice have been 
approved under OMB control number 0910-0139.

III. Electronic Access

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


[[Page 37259]]


    Dated: June 1, 2023.
Lauren K. Roth,
Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2023-12099 Filed 6-6-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4164-01-P