FDA issues guidance to facilitate greater generic drug competition

The Food and Drug Administration Friday released on how drug developers can apply for the agency鈥檚 Competitive Generic Therapies designation. Authorized by Congress in the FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017, the designation provides certain incentives for industry to develop generics for drugs lacking competition. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., the agency also will advance additional policies over the next year to promote generic competition. 鈥淭his will include the publication of a series of guidances to address regulatory and scientific challenges that make it generally more difficult to develop complex generics,鈥 he said. 鈥淎s part of this, we intend to issue draft guidance with recommendations on establishing active ingredient sameness. In addition, we鈥檒l advance the development of new analytical tools and in vitro tests to provide additional accurate, sensitive and reproducible tools to support approval of complex generic drugs.鈥