Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting

AGENCY:

Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice.

This notice announces a forthcoming meeting of a public advisory committee of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). At least one portion of the meeting will be closed to the public.

Name of Committee: Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee.

General Function of the Committee: To provide advice and recommendations to the Agency on FDA's regulatory issues.

Date and Time: The meeting will be held on April 6, 2011, between approximately 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. and on April 7, 2011, between approximately 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Location: Hilton Hotel, Washington DC North/Gaithersburg, 620 Perry Pkwy., Gaithersburg, MD 20877.

Contact Person: Donald W. Jehn or Denise Royster, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (HFM-71), Food and Drug Administration, 1401 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852, 301-827-0314, or FDA Advisory Committee Information Line, 1-800-741-8138 (301-443-0572 in the Washington, DC area), and follow the prompts to the desired center or product area. Please call the Information Line for up-to-date information on this meeting. 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 Agency's Web site and call the appropriate advisory committee hot line/phone line to learn about possible modifications before coming to the meeting.

Agenda: On the morning of April 6, 2011, the committee will meet in open session to hear updates of the research programs in the Laboratory of Bacterial Polysaccharides, Division of Bacterial, Parasitic, and Allergenic Products, Office of Vaccines Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, FDA. In the afternoon of April 6, 2011, the committee will meet in open session and will be briefed on the use of immunological markers for demonstration of effectiveness of meningococcal serogroups A, C, Y, and W-135 conjugate vaccines administered to children less than 2 years of age. On April 7, 2011, the committee will meet in open session to review and discuss approaches to licensure of meningococcal serogroup B 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 Web site prior to the meeting, the background material will be made publicly available at the location of the advisory committee meeting, and the background material will be posted on FDA's Web site after the meeting. Background material is available at http://www.fda.gov/AdvisoryCommittees/Calendar/default.htm. Scroll down to the appropriate advisory committee link.

Procedure: On April 6, 2011, from approximately 9 a.m to 10:50 a.m. and from approximately 12:30 p.m to 4 p.m., the meeting is open to the public. On April 7, 2011, the entire meeting is open to the public. Interested persons may present data, information, or views, orally or in writing, on issues pending before the committee. Written submissions may be made to the contact person on or before March 30, 2011. Oral presentations from the public will be scheduled between approximately 10:20 a.m. and 10:50 a.m. and between approximately 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. on April 6, 2011, and between approximately 1:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. on April 7, 2011. 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, the names and addresses of proposed participants, and an indication of the approximate time requested to make their presentation on or before March 22, 2011. 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 March 23, 2011.

Closed Committee Deliberations: On April 6, 2011, between approximately 10:50 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., the meeting will be closed to permit discussion where disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy (5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(6)). The committee will discuss the report of the intramural research programs and make recommendations regarding personnel staffing decisions.

Persons attending FDA's advisory committee meetings are advised that the Agency is not responsible for providing access to electrical outlets.

FDA welcomes the attendance of the public at its advisory committee meetings and will make every effort to accommodate persons with physical disabilities or special needs. If you require special accommodations due to a disability, please contact Donald W. Jehn or Denise Royster at least 7 days in advance of the meeting.

FDA is committed to the orderly conduct of its advisory committee meetings. Please visit our Web site at http://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. app. 2).