Regulations

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a final guidance for industry entitled "M15 General Principles for Model-Informed Drug Development." The guidance was prepared under the auspices of the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH). The guidance provides general recommendations for the planning, model evaluation, and documentation of evidence derived from model-informed drug development (MIDD). It establishes a harmonized assessment framework (including the associated terminology) for the MIDD evidence. It also provides recommendations for related regulatory interactions, reporting, and submission. This guideline is intended to facilitate a multidisciplinary understanding of MIDD and associated evidence generation. The guidance finalizes the draft guidance of the same title issued on December 30, 2024.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) is amending the final rule that published in the Federal Register of April 16, 2026. That final rule updated regulations to reflect application-related actions for new animal drug applications and abbreviated new animal drug applications during October, November, and December of 2025. The final rule published with some inadvertent errors in the instructions for technical amendments. This document corrects those errors.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA, the Agency, or we) is announcing the following educational conference (public meeting) entitled "Third Annual Animal Drug User Fee Educational Conference." This is the third of five annual educational conferences FDA will host as described in the "Animal Drug User Fee Act Reauthorization Performance Goals and Procedures Fiscal Years 2024 Through 2028." The purpose of this series of conferences is to provide educational sessions for stakeholders who are interested in the new animal drug approval process.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is withdrawing approval of 16 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) from multiple applicants. The applicants notified the Agency in writing that the drug products were no longer marketed and requested that the approval of the applications be withdrawn.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a revised draft guidance for industry titled "Drug and Device Manufacturer Communications With Payors, Formulary Committees, and Similar Entities--Questions and Answers." This revised draft guidance, when finalized, will provide answers to common questions regarding the communication of health care economic information (HCEI) about approved prescription drugs and approved/ cleared (as defined in the guidance) medical devices (collectively referred to in the guidance as approved/cleared medical products) by medical product manufacturers, packers, distributors, and their representatives (collectively referred to as firms) to payors, formulary committees, or other similar entities with knowledge and expertise in the area of health care economic analysis, carrying out their responsibilities for the selection of medical products for coverage or reimbursement (collectively referred to as payors). This revised draft guidance also provides answers to common questions about firms' dissemination of information to payors about medical products that are not yet approved/cleared for any use (collectively referred to as unapproved medical products) and firms' dissemination of information to payors about unapproved uses of approved/cleared medical products.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA, Agency, or we) is announcing the availability of a draft document entitled "Leveraging Prior Knowledge in the Development of Human Gene Therapy Products Incorporating Genome Editing." The draft guidance document provides sponsors engaged in the development of human gene therapy (GT) products incorporating ex-vivo and in vivo genome editing (GE) of human somatic cells (GE products) with FDA's recommendations on the type of prior knowledge that may be scientifically appropriate to leverage to advance product development.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or the Agency) is announcing a formal evidentiary public hearing on the proposal to refuse to approve the supplemental new drug application (sNDA) 205677- 004, submitted by Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Vanda) for HETLIOZ (tasimelteon) capsules, 20 milligrams (mg), to treat jet lag disorder. On October 11, 2022, the Director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) published a notice of opportunity for hearing on a proposal to refuse to approve sNDA 205677-004. Vanda submitted a timely request for hearing on that proposal. This notice of hearing provides factual and legal information concerning CDER's proposal to refuse to approve sNDA 205677-004 and identifies the factual issues that will be the subject of the evidentiary hearing.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is classifying the rigid sterilization container with electronic monitoring into class II (special controls). The special controls that apply to the device type are identified in this order and will be part of the codified language for classification of the rigid sterilization container with electronic monitoring. We are taking this action because we have determined that classifying the device into class II will provide a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness of the device. We believe this action will also enhance patients' access to beneficial innovative devices, in part by reducing regulatory burdens.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is classifying the real-time ultrasound anatomy visualization and labeling device for ultrasound guided regional anesthesia into class II (special controls). The special controls that apply to the device type are identified in this order and will be part of the codified language for classification of the real-time ultrasound anatomy visualization and labeling device for ultrasound guided regional anesthesia. We are taking this action because we have determined that classifying the device into class II will provide a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness of the device. We believe this action will also enhance patients' access to beneficial innovative devices, in part by reducing regulatory burdens.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is classifying the adjunctive pain measurement device for anesthesiology into class II (special controls). The special controls that apply to the device type are identified in this order and will be part of the codified language for classification of the adjunctive pain measurement device for anesthesiology. We are taking this action because we have determined that classifying the device into class II will provide a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness of the device. We believe this action will also enhance patients' access to beneficial innovative devices, in part by reducing regulatory burdens.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is classifying the orally ingested transient device for constipation into class II (special controls). The special controls that apply to the device type are identified in this order and will be part of the codified language for classification of the orally ingested transient device for constipation. We are taking this action because we have determined that classifying the device into class II will provide a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness of the device. We believe this action will also enhance patients' access to beneficial innovative devices, in part by reducing regulatory burdens.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is classifying the intraoral cooling device into class II (special controls). The special controls that apply to the device type are identified in this order and will be part of the codified language for classification of the intraoral cooling device. We are taking this action because we have determined that classifying the device into class II will provide a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness of the device. We believe this action will also enhance patients' access to beneficial innovative devices, in part by reducing regulatory burdens.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is classifying the von Willebrand factor assay into class II (special controls). The special controls that apply to the device type are identified in this order and will be part of the codified language for classification of the von Willebrand factor assay. We are taking this action because we have determined that classifying the device into class II will provide a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness of the device. We believe this action will also enhance patients' access to beneficial innovative devices, in part by reducing regulatory burdens.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is classifying the oropharyngeal electrical stimulator into class II (special controls). The special controls that apply to the device type are identified in this order and will be part of the codified language for classification of the oropharyngeal electrical stimulator. We are taking this action because we have determined that classifying the device into class II will provide a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness of the device. We believe this action will also enhance patients' access to beneficial innovative devices, in part by reducing regulatory burdens.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA, the Agency, or we) is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled "Oncology Pharmaceuticals: Streamlined Nonclinical Safety Studies for Biologics and Conjugated Products." When finalized, this guidance will assist sponsors in implementing streamlined approaches for general toxicology, for nonclinical safety assessments of certain oncology pharmaceuticals. The guidance is intended to facilitate drug development for biological products and conjugated products for the treatment of cancer while avoiding unnecessary animal use. The recommendations in this draft guidance are informed by data analysis of general toxicology studies and practices developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce use of non-human primates.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA, the Agency, or we) is announcing the following public meeting entitled "Patient-Focused Drug Development for Nonhealing Chronic Wounds." The purpose of the public meeting is to obtain patient perspectives about the impact of nonhealing chronic wounds on daily life, patient views on treatment approaches, factors to consider when selecting a treatment, and what they consider when determining whether to participate in a clinical trial.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a final guidance titled "Content of Human Factors Information in Medical Device Marketing Submissions." This guidance provides a risk-based framework to guide manufacturers and FDA staff on the human factors information that should be included in a marketing submission to the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) to facilitate the efficiency of the FDA review process.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a final guidance for industry entitled "Statistical Approaches to Establishing Bioequivalence." This guidance provides recommendations to sponsors and applicants planning to use equivalence criteria in analyzing bioequivalence (BE) studies for investigational new drug applications (INDs), new drug applications (NDAs), abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs), and amendments and supplements to these applications. The guidance discusses statistical approaches for BE comparisons and focuses on how to use these approaches both generally and in specific situations. This guidance finalizes the draft guidance of the same title issued on December 5, 2022, and replaces the guidance of the same title issued on February 2, 2001.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a final guidance for industry entitled "Bioequivalence Studies With Pharmacokinetic Endpoints for Drugs Submitted Under an ANDA." This guidance provides recommendations to applicants planning to include bioequivalence (BE) information in abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs), ANDA amendments, and ANDA supplements. In addition, this guidance describes how to meet the BE requirements set forth in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and FDA regulations. This guidance finalizes the draft guidance for industry of the same title issued on August 23, 2021.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is classifying the transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator to treat fibromyalgia symptoms into class II (special controls). The special controls that apply to the device type are identified in this order and will be part of the codified language for classification of the transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator to treat fibromyalgia symptoms. We are taking this action because we have determined that classifying the device into class II will provide a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness of the device. We believe this action will also enhance patients' access to beneficial innovative devices, in part by reducing regulatory burdens.