Posts Tagged ‘NDA’

Organizing for REMS Effectiveness: A View from the Field

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

- Guest blog by Andrea J. Simon, PhD -

This blog by Andrea Simon, PhD, a corporate anthropologist, is one in a series that ParagonRx has initiated to help our readers better understand some of the trends taking place in the field of Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) and risk management under the FDA  draft guidance.  We know you will find them of value and encourage you to comment on them.

In April, ParagonRx is hosting its Wednesday FoREMS webinar on the topic of organizing to effectively manage Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS).  And, in May, the Wednesday FoREMS will host a panel of industry leaders discussing how their organizations are building REMS capabilities and resourcing them in their product development and commercialization functions.  In preparation for these upcoming webinars, I thought I would share with you some of my observations from the field and encourage you to share your own company’s perspectives on how you are reorganizing to create and effectively manage REMS. (more…)

The REMS Sensitivity Index

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

Below is a qualitative index of the likelihood that FDA may require a REMS for a specific development compound as part of the NDA submission.

The presence of any attribute increases the probability of a REMS requirement; some items may be more highly weighted than others: (more…)

FDLI Conference on REMS: Benefits and Risks Meet Liabilities and Opportunities

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

- Guest blog by Roger Morris, The LondonBritian Company -

You’ve heard all the analogies:  Is the glass half empty or half full?  Does the dark storm cloud have a silver lining?

I was constantly reminded of this during the Food & Drug Law Institute’s latest conference on REMS held February 16 in Washington, D.C., as the residents and transportation system was trying to dig out of one-two snowstorms.  It was an interesting conference, one that built substantially on the groundwork done at last year’s REMS conference which the FDLI co-hosted with ParagonRx. (more…)

VIOXX - What Could Have Been in the Age of REMS

Monday, February 15th, 2010

- Guest blog by Wendy Kaplan Nickel -

Perhaps one of the greatest downfalls in drug history was the steep tumble of VIOXX after it was voluntarily pulled from the market in 2004.  VIOXX was approved by the FDA in 1999 and quickly became “the” drug for arthritis.  It gained widespread acceptance among physicians and over 20 million people were prescribed VIOXX at some point in its 5-year tenure.  In fact, in the year prior to VIOXX’s withdrawal from the market, its manufacturer, Merck, experienced sales revenue of $2.5 billion from VIOXX alone.  It is assumed Merck certainly had no intention of harming patients with its product, and in fact, celebrated in the fact that so many patients benefitted from the medication.  However, it is worth exploring what might have happened if VIOXX’s safety issues had been discovered during the post-FDAAA era.

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We’ve Grown to Better Support Our Clients

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Since 2003, ParagonRx has helped design, document, or negotiate dozens of risk management programs and REMS for pharmaceutical products.  Clients who choose to work with us have done so because of three operating principles:

  1. We believe in a balanced approach to REMS design in which safety objectives are achieved while preserving commercial viability.
  2. We employ science-based methods to reliably design and measure rational, defendable programs.
  3. We strive to inspire confidence in clients facing uncertain situations by providing specialized thinking, expert analysis and remarkable responsiveness by our experienced staff.

Those potential clients who did not choose to work with us often cited the need for a firm with broader capabilities to implement communication plans and elements to assure safe use.

At the start of this year, ParagonRx fulfilled its vision of being able to provide end-to-end REMS and risk management services by joining inVentiv Health. (more…)

FDA’s Draft Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) Guidance – A Preliminary Review (Part V)

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

On September 30th, FDA issued draft guidance, “Format and Content of Proposed Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS), REMS Assessments and Proposed REMS Modifications”. While much of this draft guidance is a codification of what’s already been happening in practice over the past 2 years, there are some interesting aspects in the guidance for those working in the REMS space to contemplate. This is the fifth in an ongoing series of blog articles about this important document.

Our first four articles covered the background of FDAAA and REMS, an overview of a REMS submission and greater detail about the “Proposed REMS” and “REMS Supporting Document”, and REMS submissions and communications with FDA.

In this fifth and final article, we address our preliminary interpretation of the draft guidance, as well as opportunities for industry to respond and propose further improvements. (more…)

FDA’s Draft Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) Guidance – A Preliminary Review (Part II)

Monday, October 5th, 2009

On September 30th, FDA issued its long awaited draft guidance, “Format and Content of Proposed Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS), REMS Assessments and Proposed REMS Modifications”. While much of this draft guidance is a codification of what’s already been happening in practice over the past two years, there are a few interesting surprises (depicted in bold below) for those working in the REMS space to contemplate. This is the second in an ongoing series of blog articles about this important document.

Our first article covered the background of FDAAA and REMS relative to RiskMAPs and those RiskMAPs deemed to be REMS, as well as an overview of a REMS submission. This second article addresses, in greater detail, the more concise “proposed REMS” component of the REMS document submission. The more expanded “REMS supporting document”, explaining the rationale for, and supporting information about, the proposed REMS being addressed in the next article. (more…)

FDA’s Draft Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) Guidance - A Preliminary Review (Part I)

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

FDA issued its long awaited draft guidance, “Format and Content of Proposed Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS), REMS Assessments and Proposed REMS Modifications”, on September 30. While much of the guidance is codification of what’s already been happening in practice over the past two years, there are a few surprises (indicated here in bold) for all of us working in the REMS space to contemplate. This is the first in a series of blog posts about this important document. (more…)

An excerpt from Expert Evaluation of RxFMEA™, a white paper by Benjamin A. Berman

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

Description of RxFMEA™

RxFMEA™ is a proprietary modification and extension of the basic FMEA methodology and that of Healthcare FMEA (HFMEA™), an adaptation of FMEA that was developed by the U.S. Veteran’s Administration. My review of the process suggests that the objective of RxFMEA™ is the comprehensive management of risks in the pharmaceutical industry. Because of the active involvement of trained personnel and untrained consumers in the distribution and use of pharmaceuticals, RxFMEA™ extends the basic FMEA and HFMEA™ processes in the following ways (more…)

Airplanes and Medications

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

Airplanes and medications seem like items that don’t mix well. In fact, the discussion of a recent webinar suggests otherwise, at least as it relates to risk management. Captain Ben Berman shared experiences from his role as former Chief of Major Investigations of the U.S. National Transportation Board in which he served as a member of the major accident go-team responsible for safety studies about flight crew human factors. (more…)