User Fees

Despite President Donald Trump's calls to reopen user fee agreements, congressional leaders on both side of the aisle are moving forward with authorizing the terms agreed upon earlier this year by industry and FDA, according to a discussion draft of the re-authorization legislation released Friday (April 14).

Lawmakers and stakeholders highlighted the successes of the medical device user fee program in speeding up FDA's review of devices, during a Tuesday (March 28) House Energy & Commerce hearing on reauthorization of the Medical Device User Fee Amendments (MDUFA).

FDA drug center head Janet Woodcock told Inside Health Policy that her recent statement on the impact of proposed changes to the Pediatric Research Equity Act (PREA), which appeared to go against previous HHS statements, was directed solely at a subset of pediatric orphan diseases.

House lawmakers, FDA officials and industry stakeholders all praised the success of the agency’s breakthrough designation in lowering drug development times, and stressed that the pending Prescription Drug User Fee Agreement (PDUFA) will bring important resources to the breakthrough effort.

A week after the president took stakeholders by surprise by proposing industry fully pay for FDA premarket reviews by doubling up on user fees, the White House plan was barely mentioned as Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) launched hearings Tuesday (March 21) on user fee pacts penned by the Obama administration and industry.

President Donald Trump's budget blueprint sparked concerns among multiple stakeholders and legislators Thursday (March 16) for putting stable appropriations funding and already-negotiated FDA user fee agreements at risk.

President Donald Trump’s proposed budget blueprint calls for industry to double up on user fees to fully pay for FDA premarket approvals in exchange for administrative reforms aimed at speeding products to market.

Key House Energy & Commerce lawmakers expressed concern during a user fee reauthorization hearing Thursday (March 2) over FDA’s 9 percent first-cycle approval rate for generics, as well as the progress made in implementing the biosimilars pathway -- despite assurances from industry and FDA that the programs are improving the agency’s approval numbers.

Amid concerns from House Energy & Commerce lawmakers that the Trump administration's federal firing freeze could negatively impact FDA's user fee commitments, the committee has scheduled a March 2 hearing on reauthorization of the generic and biosimilar user fee programs.