Department of Health and Human Services March 13, 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled ``Cancer Clinical Trial Eligibility Criteria: Brain Metastases.'' This draft guidance is one in a series of guidances that provide recommendations regarding eligibility criteria for clinical trials of drugs or biological products regulated by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) and the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) for the treatment of cancer. Specifically, this draft guidance includes recommendations on the inclusion of patients with brain metastases. Patients with brain metastases have historically been excluded from clinical trials due to concerns of poor functional status, shortened life expectancy, or increased risk of toxicity. Given the prevalence of brain metastases in patients with cancer, their systematic exclusion from clinical trials may result in the assessment of an investigational drug's efficacy or safety in a trial population that is not fully representative of the patient population that will be prescribed the drug in clinical practice. Broadening cancer trial eligibility criteria can maximize the generalizability of trial results and the ability to understand the therapy's benefit-risk profile across the patient population likely to use the drug in clinical practice without jeopardizing patient safety.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled ``Cancer Clinical Trial Eligibility Criteria: Patients with Organ Dysfunction or Prior or Concurrent Malignancies.'' This draft guidance is one in a series of guidances that provide recommendations regarding eligibility criteria for clinical trials of drugs or biological products regulated by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) and the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) for the treatment of cancer. Specifically, this guidance includes recommendations on the inclusion of patients with organ dysfunction or with prior or concurrent malignancies. Broadening cancer trial eligibility criteria can maximize the generalizability of trial results and the ability to understand the therapy's benefit-risk profile across the patient population likely to use the drug in clinical practice without jeopardizing patient safety.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) is amending the animal drug regulations to reflect application-related actions for new animal drug applications (NADAs) and abbreviated new animal drug applications (ANADAs) during July, August, and September 2018. FDA is informing the public of the availability of summaries of the basis of approval and of environmental review documents, where applicable. The animal drug regulations are also being amended to make technical amendments to improve the readability of the regulations.