[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 43 (Monday, March 4, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15590-15591]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04523]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2024-N-0970]


Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee; 
Notice of Meeting; Establishment of a Public Docket; Request for 
Comments: Selection of Strain(s) To Be Included in the 2024 to 2025 
Formula for COVID-19 Vaccines

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

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

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announces a forthcoming 
public advisory committee meeting of the Vaccines and Related 
Biological Products Advisory Committee (the Committee). The general 
function of the Committee is to provide advice and recommendations to 
FDA on regulatory issues. On May 16, 2024, the Committee will meet in 
open session to discuss and make recommendations on the selection of 
strain(s) to be included in the 2024-2025 Formula for COVID-19 
vaccines. 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 virtually on May 16, 2024, from 8:30 
a.m. to 4:30 p.m. eastern time.

ADDRESSES: All meeting participants will be heard, viewed, captioned, 
and recorded for this advisory committee meeting via an online 
teleconferencing and/or video conferencing platform. The online web 
conference meeting will be available at the following link on the day 
of the meeting: https://youtube.com/live/weaKQiFk_98. 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-2024-N-0970. The docket will close on May 15, 
2024. Please note that late, untimely filed comments will not be 
considered. The https://www.regulations.gov electronic filing system 
will accept comments until 11:59 p.m. eastern time at the end of May 
15, 2024. Comments received by mail/hand delivery/courier (for written/
paper submissions) will be considered timely if they are received on or 
before that date.
    Comments received on or before May 8, 2024, will be provided to the 
Committee. Comments received after May 8, 2024, and by May 15, 2024, 
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-2024-N-0970 for ``Vaccines and Related Biological Products 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

[[Page 15591]]

``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: Sussan Paydar or Prabhakara Atreya, 
Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug 
Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 71, Silver Spring, MD 
20993-0002, 240-506-4946, [email protected]; 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 the 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: 
    Agenda: The meeting presentations will be heard, viewed, captioned, 
and recorded through an online teleconferencing and/or video 
conferencing platform. On May 16, 2024, the Committee will meet in open 
session to discuss and make recommendations on the selection of 
strain(s) to be included in the 2024-2025 Formula for COVID-19 
vaccines.
    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 and/or video conference meeting 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 and video 
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 to the Docket (see ADDRESSES) on 
or before May 8, 2024, will be provided to the Committee. Comments 
received after May 8, 2024, and by May 15, 2024, will be taken into 
consideration by FDA. Oral presentations from the public will be 
scheduled between approximately 1 p.m. and 2 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, along with 
their names, email addresses, and direct contact phone numbers of 
proposed participants, and an indication of the approximate time 
requested to make their presentation on or before 12 p.m. eastern time 
on May 1, 2024. 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 6 p.m. eastern 
time May 3, 2024.
    For press inquiries, please contact the Office of Media Affairs at 
[email protected] 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 Sussan Paydar or Prabhakara Atreya (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. 1001 et seq.). This meeting notice also serves 
as notice that, pursuant to 21 CFR 10.19, the requirements in 21 CFR 
14.22(b), (f), and (g) relating to the location of advisory committee 
meetings are hereby waived to allow for this meeting to take place 
using an online meeting platform. This waiver is in the interest of 
allowing greater transparency and opportunities for public 
participation, in addition to convenience for advisory committee 
members, speakers, and guest speakers. The conditions for issuance of a 
waiver under 21 CFR 10.19 are met.

    Dated: February 28, 2024.
Lauren K. Roth,
Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2024-04523 Filed 3-1-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4164-01-P