Pharmacogenetics research network and knowledge base second scientific meeting

Regulatory perspectives on pharmacogenomics: a review of the literature on key issues faced by the United States Food and Drug Administration

Pharmacogenomics (PGx), the use of genetic information to individualize drug therapy, is an immediate and important application of the Human Genome Project. The advent of PGx presents challenges to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in pursuing its mandate of protecting public health and safety. The authors conducted a review of academic, industry, and government literature using a technology diffusion framework to identify issues faced by the FDA relevant to the application of PGx. Two hundred and ten articles were reviewed. Key issues were categorized as rationale and structure for PGx regulation, regulation of PGx-based testing technologies, regulation of applications in clinical settings, regulation of data, and regulation of product life cycles. This review identifies issues faced by the FDA with respect to PGx, which the FDA is addressing through several initiatives. It also illustrates the complex issues involved in developing, implementing, and adopting new technologies.

AAPS/RAPS/CAPRA collaborative program: exploring the challenges of drug regulation in a global environment: clinical concerns

Globalization of the pharmaceutical industry has led to a need to harmonize the regulatory requirements governing the marketing of medicinal products. To minimize the barriers impeding global drug product registration, the International Conference on the Harmonization of Technical Requirements of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) was established in 1990. The ICH has developed a series of guidelines that reflect agreements reached by participating nations on aspects of the chemistry and clinical technical sections that will fulfill the regulatory requirements of these various jurisdications. Nevertheless, there continue to be points of divergent perspectives and barriers that can impede the use of foreign clinical data. Given the importance of these issues, the Regulatory Science (RS) section of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS), in conjunction with the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society (RAPS) and the Canadian Association of Professional Regulatory Affairs (CAPRA) cosponsored a public forum on this topic. This manuscript provides a summary of the speaker presentations and audience discussions regarding the design of clinical trials and the extrapolation of results from these trials to support international drug registration.