Meeting Details:

This public meeting is intended to raise public awareness about the accuracy and clinical use of blood glucose meters, to share ideas on the challenges associated with their use, to seek public comments on this topic and to work towards identifying solutions. The input from this public workshop will help to determine the appropriate performance standards for point of care blood glucose meters.

Meeting Details:

On March 18, 2010, the committee will discuss, make recommendations, and vote on the premarket approval application (PMA) for the Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Defibrillators (CRTDs) sponsored by Boston Scientific. The sponsor is seeking expanded indications for the their CRTDs to include patients with low left ventricular ejection fraction (≤30%) and wide QRS (≥130 ms) who are NYHA Class II (ischemic or non-ischemic etiology) or NYHA Class I (ischemic etiology). On March 19, 2010, the committee will discuss, make recommendations and vote on a PMA for the REVO MRI Pacemaker System sponsored by Medtronic. The REVO MRI Pacing System is a pacemaker (with a standard pacing indication) that has been specifically designed to be safe for the MRI environment under certain MR scanning conditions.

Meeting Details:

MEETING POSTPONED - On February 10, 2010, during the morning session, the committee will discuss new drug application (NDA) 022481, proposed trade name PIXUVRI (pixantrone dimaleate) injection, manufactured by Cell Therapeutics, Inc. The proposed indication (use) for this product is as a single agent treatment for patients with recurring or refractory (difficult to treat), aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) who have received two or more prior lines of therapy. During the afternoon session, the committee will discuss NDA 022374, proposed trade name OMAPRO (omacetaxine mepesuccinate) for injection, manufactured by ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals. The proposed indication (use) for this product is for the treatment of adults with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) bearing a genetic alteration known as the Bcr-Abl T315I mutation, and who have failed prior therapy with the drug IMATINIB.

Meeting Details:

The Pediatric Advisory Committee will meet to discuss pediatric-focused safety reviews, as mandated by the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act and the Pediatric Research Equity Act, for: Anthelios 40, Cardiolite (technetium Tc-99), Nasacort AQ (triamcinolone), Viramune (nevirapine), Valtrex (valacyclovir), Zmax (azithromycin), Rotarix (rotavirus vaccine, live, oral), Kinrix (Diphtheria and Tetanus Toxoids and Acellular Pertussis Adsorbed and Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine), Pentacel [Diphtheria and Tetanus Toxoids and Acellular Pertussis Adsorbed, Inactivated Poliovirus and Haemophilus b Conjugate (Tetanus Toxoid Conjugate) Vaccine], and Daptacel (Diphtheria and Tetanus Toxoids and Acellular Pertussis Vaccine Adsorbed vaccine). The committee will also receive an update on Topical Calcineurin Inhibitors: Elidel (pimecrolimus) and Protopic (tacrolimus). Also, the committee will receive a brief followup on the FDA Early Communication about reports of liver-related adverse events in patients taking orlistat (marketed as Alli and Xenical).

Meeting Details:

On March 23, 2010, the committee will discuss and make recommendations on issues relevant to FDA's reevaluation of the ReGen Collagen Scaffold (CS) device (marketed as the Menaflex[reg]), which FDA cleared in K082079 on December 18, 2008, sponsored by ReGen Biologics, Inc. The indications for use statement for this device states that the device is intended for use in surgical procedures for the reinforcement and repair of soft tissue injuries of the medial meniscus. In repairing and reinforcing medial meniscal defects, the patient must have an intact meniscal rim and anterior and posterior horns for attachment of the mesh. In addition, the surgically prepared site for the CS must extend at least into the red/white zone of the meniscus to provide sufficient vascularization. The CS reinforces soft tissue and provides a resorbable scaffold that is replaced by the patient's own soft tissue. The CS is not a prosthetic device and is not intended to replace normal body structure.

Meeting Details:

On March 25, 2010, the committee will review and discuss recent information, including recent literature regarding the possible risks to the general public from intentional exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UV) from use of tanning lamps. There continues to be a growing body of literature showing association of skin cancer with use of tanning lamps and the committee will discuss this information and other information related to the association of UV and skin cancer (both melanoma and non-melanoma). The committee will be asked to recommend whether changes to current classification or current regulatory controls of UV emitting devices (lamps) used for tanning are needed.

Meeting Details:

On April 7, 2010, the committee will discuss new drug application (NDA) 22–522, roflumilast (DAXAS), Forest Research Institute, for the maintenance treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease associated with chronic bronchitis in patients at risk of exacerbations (worsening symptoms).

Meeting Details:

On April 13, 2010, the committee will receive presentations from the Office of Generic Drugs and discuss two bioequivalence topics relevant to generic drug approval: (1) Revising the BE approaches for critical dose drugs and (2) the use of partial area under the curve (AUC) for the evaluation of abbreviated new drug applications for products with complex pharmacokinetic profiles. Bioequivalence refers to the evaluation of equivalence in the rate and extent of drug absorption between two preparations of the same drug. Critical dose drugs are medicines that require a narrow (or ``critical'') dose range to achieve and maintain their intended effects and to reduce serious adverse drug reactions. The ``area under the curve'' is the area under a plot of drug concentration in the bloodstream versus time; it is a measure of the extent of exposure to a drug after a dose is administered.

Meeting Details:

On April 14, 2010, the committee will: (1) Receive presentations from the Office of Generic Drugs (OGD) on a proposal for revision of the bioequivalence (BE) approaches, specifically to discuss the addition of a limitation on point estimates; (2) receive presentations on an awareness topic to highlight some issues associated with product instability (failure of a marketed product to meet stability specifications through the expiration date), and the potential research needs to address those issues; and (3) receive and discuss presentations from Office of Pharmaceutical Science (OPS) on the regulatory challenges of drug-induced phospholipidosis (excessive intracellular accumulation of phospholipids, a kind of fatty molecule, due to the use of certain drugs).

Meeting Details:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or the agency) is announcing a public hearing to obtain input on the scope and implementation of potential expanded access programs with direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection in patients with unmet medical need. This public hearing is being held to obtain comments from the public on eligibility criteria that should be used for patient enrollment in expanded access protocols involving DAAs and to elicit suggestions for designs of protocols for treatment investigational new drug applications (INDs) involving DAAs and other expanded access protocols. In addition, the agency would like public input on types of studies that should be conducted to obtain information on patients with unmet medical need including those with the greatest risk of progression of liver disease and/or the lowest predicted virologic response rates.

Meeting Details:

On May 12, 2010, the committees will discuss new drug application (NDA) 22-478, naproxcinod0 375 milligram capsule, sponsored by NicOx S.A., a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) product indicated for the treatment of the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis.

Meeting Details:

On March 12, 2010, the committee will discuss, make recommendations, and vote on a premarket approval application for the Deep Brain Stimulation System for Epilepsy sponsored by Medtronic, Inc. This device is indicated as adjunctive therapy for reducing the frequency of seizures in individuals diagnosed with epilepsy. For this device, a patient's epilepsy should be characterized by partial-onset seizures (affecting only a part of the brain when they begin), with or without secondary generalization that are refractory to antiepileptic medications. ``Secondary generalization'' is used to describe a partial-onset seizure that later spreads to the whole brain. ``Refractory'' to antiepileptic medications means that the patient's epilepsy does not respond to approved medications.

Meeting Details:

On March 10 and 11, 2010, the committee will discuss the design of medical research studies (known as ``clinical trial design'') to evaluate serious asthma outcomes (such as hospitalizations, a procedure using a breathing tube known as intubation, or death) with the use of the class of asthma medications known as long acting beta-2 adrenergic agonists in the treatment of asthma in adults, adolescents, and children.

Meeting Details:

The committee will discuss new drug application (NDA) 22-535, pirfenidone, by InterMune. The proposed indication (purpose) of this drug is the treatment of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (scarring of the lungs without a known cause) to decrease the decline in lung function associated with this condition.

Meeting Details:

On March 5, 2010, the committee will discuss and make recommendations regarding clinical risks and benefits of post-market actions in response to insulin pump failures. Insulin pumps are intended for continuous delivery of insulin at set and variable rates and as an aid in the management of diabetes mellitus in persons requiring insulin.

Meeting Details:

On March 1, 2010, the committee will discuss biologics license application (BLA) 125288, for belatacept injectable, by Bristol Myers Squibb, to be used in patients with kidney transplants to prevent rejection of the transplanted kidney.

Meeting Details:

On February 25 and 26, 2010, the committee will discuss strategies and lessons from a selection of the FDA's previously issued communications, emphasizing communications challenges. Examples, selected for illustrative purposes only, will be drawn from communications about issues in broad areas such as biologics, drugs, medical devices, regulatory actions, and veterinary products.

Meeting Details:

The committee will discuss the safety and efficacy of new drug application (NDA) 22505, for EGRIFTA (tesamorelin acetate) sterile lyophilized powder for injection, by Theratechnologies, Inc. EGRIFTA is an analogue (a chemical compound that resembles another compound in structure) of growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH). The proposed indication (use) for EGRIFTA in this application is to induce and maintain a reduction of excess visceral abdominal fat in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients with lipodystrophy (a condition in which abnormal deposits of fat are seen partly as a result of using certain drugs to treat HIV disease).

Meeting Details:

The committee will discuss the efficacy and safety of new drug application (NDA) 22-554 for XIFAXAN (rifaximin) Tablets 550 mg, manufactured by Salix Pharmaceuticals, for the indication (use) of maintenance of remission of hepatic encephalopathy, a condition in which severe liver disease contributes to an accumulation of toxic substances that impair brain function. This indication is for patients 18 years of age and older.

Meeting Details:

The committee will discuss and make recommendations on the selection of strains to be included in the influenza virus vaccine for the 2010 - 2011 influenza season.