U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Drug Evaluation and Research |
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Drug Applications |
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IntroductionAn Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) contains data which when submitted to FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Office of Generic Drugs, provides for the review and ultimate approval of a generic drug product. Once approved, an applicant may manufacture and market the generic drug product to provide a safe, effective, low cost alternative to the American public. A generic drug product is one that is comparable to an innovator drug product in dosage form, strength, route of administration, quality, performance characteristics and intended use. All approved products, both innovator and generic, are listed in FDA's Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations (Orange Book). Generic drug applications are termed "abbreviated" because they are generally not required to include preclinical (animal) and clinical (human) data to establish safety and effectiveness. Instead, generic applicants must scientifically demonstrate that their product is bioequivalent (i.e., performs in the same manner as the innovator drug). One way scientists demonstrate bioequivalence is to measure the time it takes the generic drug to reach the bloodstream in 24 to 36 healthy, volunteers. This gives them the rate of absorption, or bioavailability, of the generic drug, which they can then compare to that of the innovator drug. The generic version must deliver the same amount of active ingredients into a patient's bloodstream in the same amount of time as the innovator drug. Using bioequivalence as the basis for approving generic copies of drug products was established by the "Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984," also known as the Waxman-Hatch Act. This Act expedites the availability of less costly generic drugs by permitting FDA to approve applications to market generic versions of brand-name drugs without conducting costly and duplicative clinical trials. At the same time, the brand-name companies can apply for up to five additional years longer patent protection for the new medicines they developed to make up for time lost while their products were going through FDA's approval process. Brand-name drugs are subject to the same bioequivalence tests as generics upon reformulation. For more information on generic drug bioequivalency requirements, please see the chapter entitled "FDA Ensures Equivalence of Generic Drugs" in "From Test Tube to Patient: Improving Health Through Human Drugs." The Office of Generic Drugs home page provides additional information to generic drug developers, including an interactive flowchart presentation of the ANDA review process, focusing on how CDER determines the safety and bioequivalence of generic drug products prior to approval for marketing. Generic drug application reviewers focus on bioequivalence data, chemistry and microbiology data, requests for plant inspection, and drug labeling information. This web site is designed for individuals from pharmaceutical companies, government agencies, academic institutions, private organizations, or other organizations interested in bringing a generic drug to market. Each of the sections below contains information from CDER to assist you in the ANDA application process. Click on a link to go directly to a section. Resources for ANDA SubmissionsThe following resources have been gathered to provide you with the legal requirements of an ANDA application, assistance from CDER to help you meet those requirements, and internal ANDA review principles, policies and procedures. Guidance Documents for ANDAsGuidance documents represent the Agency's current thinking on a particular subject. These documents are prepared for FDA review staff and applicants/sponsors to provide guidelines to the processing, content, and evaluation/approval of applications and also to the design, production, manufacturing, and testing of regulated products. They also establish policies intended to achieve consistency in the Agency's regulatory approach and establish inspection and enforcement procedures. Because guidances are not regulations or laws, they are not enforceable, either through administrative actions or through the courts. An alternative approach may be used if such an approach satisfies the requirements of the applicable statute, regulations, or both. For information on a specific guidance document, please contact the originating office. The FDA has numerous guidances that relate to ANDA content and format
issues. Below is a list of some recent Guidances of interest. See Drug Information
Branch's Guidance Documents for a
complete list of available guidances online and instructions on how to obtain them. Most
of these documents are in Adobe
Acrobat format Guidance documents to help prepare ANDAs are listed together on CDER's Guidance Document Index webpage in the following categories:
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CDER's Manual of Policies and Procedures (MaPPs) provide official instructions for internal practices and procedures followed by CDER staff to help standardize the drug review process and other activities, both internal and external. MaPPs define external activities as well. All MAPPs are available for the public to review to get a better understanding of office policies, definitions, staff responsibilities and procedures. MaPP documents to help prepare ANDAs are listed together on CDER's Manual of Policies and Procedures webpage.
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FDA/Center for Drug Evaluation and Research
Last Updated: October 25, 2007
Originator: OTCOM/DML
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