Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; New Animal Drugs for Investigational Use

AGENCY:

Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain information by the Agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Federal Agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. This notice solicits comments on reporting and recordkeeping requirements of our regulations concerning new animal drugs for investigational use.

DATES:

Either electronic or written comments on the collection of information must be submitted by July 1, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments as follows. 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 July 1, 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.

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-1464 for “Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; New Animal Drugs for Investigational Use.” 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 “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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Rachel Showalter, Office of Operations, Food and Drug Administration, Three White Flint North, 10A-12M, 11601 Landsdown St., North Bethesda, MD 20852, 240-994-7399, PRAStaff@fda.hhs.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521), Federal Agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. “Collection of information” is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) and includes Agency requests or requirements that members of the public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)) requires Federal Agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement, FDA is publishing notice of the proposed collection of information set forth in this document.

With respect to the following collection of information, FDA invites comments on these topics: (1) whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of FDA's functions, including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of FDA's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques, when appropriate, and other forms of information technology.

New Animal Drugs for Investigational Use—21 CFR 511

OMB Control Number 0910-0117—Extension

This information collection helps support implementation of Agency statutory and regulatory requirements regarding the approval of new animal drugs. FDA has the authority under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) to approve new animal drugs. A new animal drug application (NADA) cannot be approved until, among other things, the new animal drug has been demonstrated to be safe and effective for its intended use(s). In order to properly test a new animal drug for an intended use, appropriate scientific investigations must be conducted. Under specific circumstances, section 512(j) of the FD&C Act (21 U.S.C. 360b(j)) permits the use of an investigational new animal drug to generate data to support a NADA approval. Section 512(j) of the FD&C Act authorizes us to issue regulations relating to the investigational use of new animal drugs.

Our regulations in part 511 (21 CFR part 511) set forth the conditions for investigational use of new animal drugs and require reporting and recordkeeping to qualify for the exemption from section 512(a) of the FD&C Act. The information collected is necessary to protect the public health. We use the information to determine that investigational animal drugs are distributed only to qualified investigators, adequate drug accountability records are maintained, and edible food products from treated food-producing animals are safe for human consumption. We also use the information collected to monitor the validity of the studies submitted to us to support new animal drug approval.

Our regulations require that certain information be submitted to us in a “Notice of Claimed Investigational Exemption for a New Animal Drug” (NCIE) to qualify for the exemption and to control shipment of the new animal drug and prevent potential abuse. We also require reporting by importers of investigational new animal drugs for clinical investigational use in animals (§ 511.1(b)(9)). The information provided by the sponsor in the NCIE is needed to help ensure that the proposed investigational use of the new animal drug is safe and that any edible food will not be distributed without proper authorization from FDA. Information contained in an NCIE submission is monitored under our Bioresearch Monitoring Program. This program permits us to monitor the validity of the studies and to help ensure the proper use of the drugs is maintained by the investigators.

Sponsors use eSubmitter, a secure online, question-based submission tool, to submit the NCIE electronically ( https://www.fda.gov/industry/fda-esubmitter/cvm-esubmitter-programs ).

Description of Respondents: Respondents to this collection of information are persons who use new animal drugs for investigational purposes. Investigational new animal drugs are used primarily by drug industry firms, academic institutions, and the government ( i.e., sponsors of investigational new animal drugs). Investigators may include individuals from these entities, as well as research firms and members of the medical professions. With respect to this information collection, the term respondent includes sponsors who are subject to user fees and sponsors who are not subject to user fees.

FDA estimates the burden of this collection of information as follows:

The NCIE must contain, among other things, the following specific information: (1) identity of the new animal drug, (2) labeling, (3) statement of compliance of any non-clinical laboratory studies with good laboratory practices, (4) name and address of each clinical investigator, (5) the approximate number of animals to be treated or amount of new animal drug(s) to be shipped, and (6) information regarding the use of edible tissues from investigational animals (§ 511.1(b)(4)). If the new animal drug is to be used in food-producing animals ( e.g., cattle, swine, chickens, fish, etc.), certain data must be submitted to us to obtain authorization for the use of edible food products from treated food-producing animals (§ 511.1(b)(5)). We require sponsors upon request to submit information with respect to the investigation to determine whether there are grounds for terminating the exemption (§ 511.1(b)(6)). We require sponsors to report findings that may suggest significant hazards pertinent to the safety of the new animal drug (§ 511.1(b)(8)(ii)).

If the new animal drug is only for tests in vitro or in laboratory research animals, the person distributing the new animal drug must maintain records showing the name and post office address of the expert or expert organization to whom it is shipped and the date, quantity, and batch or code mark of each shipment and delivery for a period of 2 years after such shipment or delivery (§ 511.1(a)(3) and (b)(3)).

We require complete records of the investigation, including records of the receipt and disposition of each shipment or delivery of the investigational new animal drug (§ 511.1(b)(7)). We also require records of all reports received by a sponsor from investigators to be retained for 2 years after the termination of an investigational exemption or approval of a new animal drug application (§ 511.1(b)(8)(i)).

The estimate of the time required for reporting requirements, record preparation, and maintenance for this collection of information is based on our informal communication with industry. Based on the number of sponsors subject to animal drug user fees, we estimate that there are 257 respondents. We use this estimate throughout both tables to calculate the “number of responses per respondent” by dividing the total annual responses by number of respondents. The burden we attribute to reporting and recordkeeping activities is assumed to be distributed among the individual elements of the respective information collection activities.

Additional information needed to make a final calculation of the total burden hours ( i.e., the number of respondents, the number of recordkeepers, the number of NCIEs received, etc.) is derived from our records. There is a decrease in the total burden hours of 2,401, which we attribute to a decrease in the number of respondents as well as the number of annual responses and records.