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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled “Transdermal and Topical Delivery Systems—Product Development and Quality Considerations.” This guidance provides recommendations to applicants and manufacturers of transdermal and topical delivery systems (TDS) regarding the pharmaceutical development and quality information to include in new drug applications (NDAs) and abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs). Specifically, the guidance discusses FDA's current thinking on product design and pharmaceutical development, manufacturing process and control, and finished product control. It also addresses special considerations for areas where quality is closely tied to product performance and potential safety issues, such as adhesion failure and the impact of applied heat on drug delivery.

DATES:

Submit either electronic or written comments on the draft guidance by February 19, 2020 to ensure that the Agency considers your comment on this draft guidance before it begins work on the final version of the guidance.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-2019-D-4447 for “Transdermal and Topical Delivery Systems—Product Development and Quality Considerations.” 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.gpo.gov/​fdsys/​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:

Mohamed Ghorab, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 51, Rm. 3141, Silver Spring, MD 20993, 240-402-8940.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

FDA is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled “Transdermal and Topical Delivery Systems—Product Development and Quality Considerations.” Transdermal delivery systems and topical delivery systems, collectively identified as TDS, are used in a variety of therapeutic areas and treatment populations. Transdermal delivery systems are designed to deliver an active ingredient (drug substance) across the skin and into systemic circulation, while topical delivery systems are designed to deliver the active ingredient to local tissue. Both transdermal delivery systems and topical delivery systems present similar manufacturing and quality control concerns and similar risks to patients.

The draft guidance in its entirety may not be applicable to all TDS, and some TDS (for example, microneedles, active transport TDS, reservoir TDS, and TDS applied to broken skin) have other considerations that are not addressed in this guidance. Because of the inherent failure modes and safety risks associated with the reservoir TDS, FDA recommends TDS manufacturers and applicants focus development efforts on matrix type TDS.

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 transdermal and topical delivery systems product development and quality considerations. 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

This draft guidance refers to previously approved collections of information found in FDA regulations. These collections of information are subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520). The collections of information in 21 CFR parts 210 and 211 have been approved under OMB control number 0910-0139. The collections of information in 21 CFR part 314 for the submission of NDAs and ANDAs, including the submission of labeling under 21 CFR 314.50(e)(2)(ii) and 314.50(l)(1)(i) and advertisements and promotional labeling under 21 CFR 314.81(b)(3)(i), have been approved under OMB control number 0910-0001. The submission of prescription drug labeling under 21 CFR 201.56 and 201.57 has been approved under OMB control number 0910-0572.

In accordance with the PRA, prior to publication of any final guidance document, FDA intends to solicit public comment and obtain OMB approval for any information collections recommended in this guidance that are new or that would represent material modifications to those previously approved collections of information found in FDA regulations or guidances.

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.