Draft Guidance Addresses Risk to Offspring of Father’s Drug UseThe FDA wants drugmakers to assess the risks of active pharmaceutical ingredients taken by men on the development of embryos and fetuses of their female partners. While guidance exists on the risk of pharmaceuticals administered to pregnant or potentially reproductive females, there’s a lack of consistency in clinical trial designs regarding the risk for sexual partners of men being given an API, the agency says in draft guidance issued June 11. The guidance focuses on two main risks when an API has been shown to be genotoxic or a potent developmental toxicant — developmental risk caused by the effects of the API on the germ cell before conception and developmental toxicity in the fetus when the API is transferred to a pregnant partner via semen. The guidance also applies to new molecular entities for which risk has not been determined, the FDA notes. Before administering a drug, sponsors should conduct in vitro studies such as genotoxicity assays and general toxicity in vivo studies with histopathology and/or semen analysis. They should also clinically determine the amount of drug or biologic secreted into semen or perform pharmacokinetic modeling. Until the developmental or reproductive risk of an API is known, precautions such as contraceptives should be taken to prevent pregnancy or exposure to a potential embryo. When an API is shown to have developmental risk, contraceptives should be used until the potential for male-mediated effects has been fully assessed, the draft guidance says. The risks associated with transfer of a drug or biologic via seminal fluid also apply to men who have had a vasectomy, the FDA says. Comments on the draft guidance are due Aug. 11. Read it at www.fdanews.com/06-12-15-MaleMediated.pdf. To read the Federal Register notice, go to www.fdanews.com/06-12-15-Notice.pdf. — Kellen Owings
|
BonusSubscribe to Clinical Trials Advisor NOW and save $200 off the regular one-year price of $645 — plus receive a FREE copy of our webinar, Mastering Social Media for Clinical Trial Recruitment – a $347 value! Key BenefitsLINKS TO KEY DOCUMENTS — Need to read regulatory references, guidances, enforcement actions, and other documents? Simply click on the source documents in your electronic issue. ONLINE ACCESS — Consider our newsletter archive your personal library! Search your current issue — and hundreds of past issues — by keyword and relevancy.
|