From Bench to Bedside: Regulatory Bodies Flashcards
What are the Steps for the Discovery of Drugs and their Development Process?
Step 1: Have something to discover
Step 2: Pre-clinical Study
Step 3: Clinical Studies
Step 4: Regulatory Review
Step 5: Post-Marketing Activities
What happens during the first step of Drug Development Process?
You need to have something to discover (isn’t limited to drugs, can be health product/device, or etc.)
What happens during the Pre-Clinical Studies?
Show proof of MECHANISM (exactly how it’s working), can’t move on if you’re still proving how it works.
- doesn’t have to be done on just animals, humans are just less common
What happens during the Clinical Studies?
Between all 4 phases, the difference is the number of humans involved and their demographics; Phase 1 has a smaller pool of people and increases with each phase.
Takes 6-7 years
What happens during Regulatory Review?
A new drug submission from start to finish in Canada can take about 6 months - 2 years for Health Canada to approve. However for USA, 4 years.
What happens during Post-Marketing Activities?
Phase 4 of Clinical Studies; you look at post-marketing changes, and this is where companies engage in unethical behaviour; substituting one compound for another, or adding more fillers as to not sell the same amount of compounds. This usually leads to then have these products not being allowed to be sold.
What are the regulatory bodies reviewing?
Safety, Effectiveness & Quality
- this usually is assessed during the preclinical studies
How are drugs and medications authorized for sale in Canada?
Drugs and other medications are authorized for sale after they’ve successfully gone through the drug review process
Does everything sold under Canada have to go through the drug review process?
No; so if Health Canada wants, they can pull it off of shelves and put a fine to that business
Who oversees the drug review process for drugs and medications to be authorized for sale in Canada?
Health Canada; specifically within Health Canada: Health Product and Food Branch (FEDERAL AGENCY)
What does Health Canada review when it comes to drugs and medications to be authorized for sale in Canada?
Safety, effectiveness and quality
How long can the rug review process last?
6 months - 2 years
What is considered to be a drug?
- Prescriptions & nonprescription pharmaceuticals
- Biologically derived products such as vaccines
- Blood derived products
- Products produced through biotech.; tissues & organs; disinfectants and radiopharmaceuticals
Anything not listed is a Health Product!!
What is the difference between prescription vs nonprescription?
Prescriptions are restricted; doesn’t say anything about the safety, effectiveness and quality of it.
What policy determine the list of what is considered to be a drug?
Food and Drugs Act
- This is on the Federal Level by Health Canada
What is part of the Canadian regulatory framework?
- Acts
- Regulations
- Guidelines
- Policies
What is acts?
Food & Drug Act
This is authorized by Health Canada, and they see the development and marketing of drugs
What is regulations?
Food & Drugs Regulations, and Medical Devices Regulations
How does Food & Drugs act work specifically for FDR and MDR?
Oversees the development of everything that gets sold in Canada. Each of these regulations are siloed for whatever that thing is (e.g. if it’s a prescription drug or not, it will go under the FDR, if it’s a medical device, it goes under medical device regulations)
What is guidelines within the Canadian regulatory framework?
They are usually general on what must be done, in terms of how regulations are interpreted.
What is policies?
More general in terms of how we interpret those regulations. more loose and fine-tuned to the province, as each province has their own regulatory bodies that interpret these regulations.
What factors determine the timeframe of drug discovery and development process?
- Accelerated Review Process from Health Canada
- HPFB can provide faster authorization for health conditions that are serious, life-threatening, or severely debilitating diseases (Alzheimer’s, cancer, AIDS, and etc.)
How can the HPFB provide faster authorization of a drug?
- Priority Review
- Notice of Compliance with Conditions
How does Priority Review work?
This applies to drugs that show substantial evidence of clinical effectiveness at the end of the clinical trial phases
What does the Notice of Compliance with conditions apply to?
Drugs with promising evidence of criminal effectiveness throughout the clinical trial phases; they show good evidence of effectiveness, but need more to show in terms of efficacy or not. Approval would be granted to a manufacturer to market and sell that drug in Canada with the condition that the manufacturer execute additional studies to confirm the drug’s benefit and safety.
What is the purpose of Health Canada’s partnership with initiative like Project Orbis?
Designed to give cancer patients faster access to promising cancer treatments, alongside the US FDA
Which products are eligible for Project Orbis?
Include oncology products that are either new active substances or new indications for previously approved drugs.
What criteria are Project Orbis submissions expected to meet?
“FDA Priority Review” and Health Canada PR or NOC/c criteria