Adverse Event Reporting for 
Outsourcing Facilities Under Section 
503B of the Federal Food, Drug, and 
Cosmetic Act 
 
 
Guidance for Industry 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 
Food and Drug Administration 
Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) 
 
October 2015 
Compounding and Related Documents 
   
 
Adverse Event Reporting for 
Outsourcing Facilities Under Section 
503B of the Federal Food, Drug, and 
Cosmetic Act 
 
 
Guidance for Industry 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Additional copies are available from: 
 
Office of Communications, Division of Drug Information  
Center for Drug Evaluation and Research 
Food and Drug Administration 
10001 New Hampshire Ave., Hillandale Bldg., 4th Floor  
Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002  
Phone: 855-543-3784 or 301-796-3400; Fax: 301-431-6353 
Email: druginfo@fda.hhs.gov  
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/Guidances/default.htm 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 
Food and Drug Administration 
Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) 
  
October 2015 
Compounding and Related Documents
  Contains Nonbinding Recommendations 
 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 
I.  INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 1 
II.  BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................................. 1 
A.  STATUTORY AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK .................................................................................................. 1 
B.  SECTION 310.305 .............................................................................................................................................. 3 
III.   ADVERSE EVENT REPORTING BY OUTSOURCING FACILITIES .................................................. 5 
A.  WHAT TO REPORT ............................................................................................................................................. 5 
B.  THRESHOLD FOR REPORTING ............................................................................................................................ 5 
C.  FOLLOW-UP REPORTS ....................................................................................................................................... 6 
C.  DESCRIPTION OF THE FOUR DATA ELEMENTS ................................................................................................... 6 
D.  REPORT ATTACHMENTS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ................................................................................ 9 
E.  HOW TO REPORT ADVERSE EVENTS .................................................................................................................. 9 
F.  INSPECTION OF ADVERSE EVENT REPORTING ................................................................................................. 10 
G.  RECORDKEEPING ............................................................................................................................................. 10 
  Contains Nonbinding Recommendations 
 
 
Adverse Event Reporting for Outsourcing Facilities  
Under Section 503B of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 
 
1
Guidance for Industry  
 
 
 
 
This guidance represents the current thinking of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) on 
this topic.  It does not establish any rights for any person and is not binding on FDA or the public.  You 
can use an alternative approach if it satisfies the requirements of the applicable statutes and regulations.  
To discuss an alternative approach, contact the FDA staff responsible for this guidance as listed on the 
title page.   
 
 
 
 
I.  INTRODUCTION  
 
This guidance is intended for firms that have registered with the Food and Drug Administration 
(FDA) under section 503B of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) as human 
drug compounding outsourcing facilities (outsourcing facilities).  Under section 503B(b)(5) of 
the FD&C Act, an outsourcing facility must submit adverse event reports to FDA in accordance 
with the content and format requirements established through guidance or regulation under 
section 310.305 of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulations).2  This 
guidance explains FDAs current thinking on adverse event reporting for outsourcing facilities.   
   
In general, FDAs guidance documents do not establish legally enforceable responsibilities.  
Instead, guidances describe the Agencys current thinking on a topic and should be viewed only 
as recommendations, unless specific regulatory or statutory requirements are cited.  The use of 
the word should in Agency guidances means that something is suggested or recommended, but 
not required.  
 
 
II.  BACKGROUND 
 
A.  Statutory and Regulatory Framework 
 
                                                           
1 This guidance has been prepared by multiple offices in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) in 
cooperation with the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) at the Food and Drug Administration. 
2 21 U.S.C. 353b(b)(5). 
  1  Contains Nonbinding Recommendations 
 
 
On November 27, 2013, the Drug Quality and Security Act (DQSA) was signed into law. Title I 
of the DQSA contains important provisions related to the oversight of human drug 
compounding.3  The DQSA added section 503B to the FD&C Act.  Under section 503B(b), a 
compounder can register as an outsourcing facility with FDA.4  Under section 503B(b)(5), an 
outsourcing facility must submit adverse event reports to FDA in accordance with the content 
and format requirements established through guidance or regulation under section 310.305 of 
title 21, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulations).5   
 
Section 310.305 requires, among other things, that manufacturers, packers, and distributors of 
marketed prescription drug products that are not the subject of an approved new drug application 
or an abbreviated new drug application establish and maintain records and make reports to FDA 
of all serious, unexpected adverse drug experiences6 associated with the use of their prescription 
drug products.  For purposes of reporting adverse drug experiences pursuant to 503B(b)(5), the 
term prescription drug products includes any compounded drug product subject to the 
prescription requirements in section 503(b)(1) of the FD&C Act.  The adverse event reporting 
requirements apply to prescription drug products regardless of whether the outsourcing facility 
distributes them pursuant to prescriptions.7  
 
In addition, on June 10, 2014, FDA issued a final rule requiring, among other things, that 
postmarketing safety reports required under 21 CFR 310.305, 314.80, 314.98, and 600.80 be 
submitted to FDA in an electronic format FDA can process, review, and archive. The final rule 
also adds 21 CFR 329.100 to address electronic submission of safety reports required by section 
760 of the FD&C Act regarding serious adverse event reporting for nonprescription drugs.8 
These requirements are effective as of June 10, 2015.9, 10   
 
                                                           
3 See text of Compounding Quality Act at 
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/PharmacyCompounding/ucm376732.htm. 
4 See 21 U.S.C. 353b(b). 
5 Id. At 353(b)(b)(5). 
6 This guidance uses the terms adverse drug experience and adverse event interchangeably. 
7 Section 503B(d)(4)(C) of the FD&C Act provides that outsourcing facilities may or may not obtain prescriptions 
for identified individual patients.  Although outsourcing facilities may send prescription drugs to health care 
facilities without obtaining prescriptions for identified individual patients, drugs produced by outsourcing facilities 
remain subject to the requirements in section 503(b) of the FD&C Act.  Therefore, an outsourcing facility cannot 
dispense a prescription drug to a patient without a prescription. 
8 See 21 U.S.C. 379aa. 
9 See 79 FR 33072. 
10 The effective date for the Electronic Safety Reporting Rule requiring electronic submissions of postmarketing 
safety reports is June 10, 2015.  However, in the Federal Register of May 27, 2015 (80 FR 30151), FDA announced 
that it is delaying the compliance date for this final rule to September 8, 2015.  
  2  Contains Nonbinding Recommendations 
 
 
Under section 503B, outsourcing facilities are required to submit adverse event reports to FDA, 
in accordance with content and format requirements established through guidance or regulation 
under 21 CFR 310.305 (or any successor regulations).11   
 
Failure to report adverse events by an entity that is registered in accordance with section 503B(b) 
is a prohibited act under section 301(ccc)(3) of the FD&C Act.12  Violations relating to this 
provision are subject to regulatory and enforcement action.   
 
Adverse event reporting for drug products compounded by outsourcing facilities is a critical 
mechanism by which FDA identifies signals of potential quality problems that may be associated 
with a particular drug or drug component and which may have been caused by substandard 
conditions or processes at a facility where the drug or its components were made or handled.  
FDA needs to distinguish such cases from cases of medication error, hospital or clinic procedural 
problems, or quality issues associated with ingredients (e.g., active pharmaceutical ingredients 
(APIs), excipients).  For example, several reports of adverse events in patients who received 
compounded drug products from the same outsourcing facility may be a signal of a quality issue 
resulting from a deficiency in the outsourcing facilitys manufacturing processes.  However, if 
several different outsourcing facilities report adverse events in patients who received drug 
products that contained the same API, this may suggest a quality problem associated with the 
API used in the compounded drug product.   
 
An adverse event may be reported for reasons other than a quality problem.  For example, it may 
be a side effect of taking the drug product, or have resulted from lack of efficacy of the drug 
product, the patients underlying medical condition, or use of a concomitant medication.  To 
address the reported adverse event appropriately, FDA reviews information provided by 
outsourcing facilities, such as the description of the circumstances associated with the adverse 
event, including the source of the drug and its ingredients, concomitant medications that the 
patient was taking, relevant information reflected in hospital discharge summaries, autopsy 
reports/death certificates, relevant laboratory data, and other critical clinical data used to 
determine the cause of the adverse event. 
 
When FDA receives adverse event reports from outsourcing facilities, FDA evaluates the reports 
on a case-by-case basis to determine whether further action is warranted.  FDA may contact the 
outsourcing facility or the reporter to obtain additional information, and if the report signals a 
potential product quality issue, FDA may initiate an inspection of the outsourcing facility or 
manufacturer of a component of the compounded drug to further investigate the incident.   
 
B.  Section 310.305  
 
Section 310.305(b) defines a serious adverse drug experience to mean: 
                                                           
11 Certain state boards of pharmacy may also require outsourcing facilities licensed in their states to report adverse 
events.  Outsourcing facilities must comply with any state reporting requirements independent of and in addition to 
reporting adverse events as described in this guidance.   
12 See 21 U.S.C. 331(ccc)(3). 
  3  Contains Nonbinding Recommendations 
 
 
 
Any adverse drug experience occurring at any dose that results in any of 
the following outcomes:   
  Death,  
  A life-threatening adverse drug experience, 
  Inpatient hospitalization or prolongation of existing 
hospitalization, 
  A persistent or significant disability/incapacity, or 
  A congenital anomaly/birth defect.   
 
Important medical events that may not result in death, be life-threatening, 
or require hospitalization may be considered a serious adverse drug 
experience when, based upon appropriate medical judgment, they may 
jeopardize the patient or subject and may require medical or surgical 
intervention to prevent one of the outcomes listed in this definition.  
Examples of such medical events include  
  allergic bronchospasm requiring intensive treatment in an 
emergency room or at home, 
  blood dyscrasias or convulsions that do not result in inpatient 
hospitalization, or  
  the development of drug dependency or drug abuse. 
 
Section 310.305(b) defines an unexpected adverse drug experience as any adverse drug 
experience that is not listed in the current labeling for the drug product.  This includes events that 
may be symptomatically and pathophysiologically related to an event listed in the labeling, but 
differ from the event because of greater severity or specificity.  The term unexpected, as used in 
this definition, refers to an adverse drug experience that has not been previously observed (i.e., 
included in the labeling), rather than from the perspective of such experience not being 
anticipated from the pharmacological properties of the pharmaceutical product.  For example, if 
current labeling for a compounded drug product does not list any adverse drug experiences, all 
adverse drug experiences associated with the compounded drug product would be considered 
unexpected. 
 
The regulation requires reporting of each adverse drug experience received or otherwise obtained 
that is both serious and unexpected as soon as possible, but in no case later than 15 calendar days 
of initial receipt of the information along with a copy of the drug products current labeling.13  In 
addition, all serious, unexpected adverse drug experiences that are the subject of these reports 
must be promptly investigated and a follow-up report must be submitted within 15 calendar days 
of receipt of new information or as requested by FDA.14   
 
                                                           
13 See 21 CFR 310.305(c)(1)(i). 
14 See 21 CFR 310.305(c)(2). 
  4  Contains Nonbinding Recommendations 
 
 
FDAs regulations also state that information on the names and addresses of individual patients 
should not be included.15  A unique code should therefore be assigned instead for each individual 
patient. 
 
The regulations require that firms maintain certain records relating to adverse drug experiences 
required to be reported under section 310.305 for 10 years and provide FDA access to them.16  
The regulations also provide a disclaimer that the report or information submitted (and any 
release by FDA of that report or information) does not necessarily reflect a conclusion that the 
report or information constitutes an admission that the drug caused or contributed to an adverse 
effect.17  
 
III.   Adverse Event Reporting by Outsourcing Facilities 
 
A.  What to Report 
 
Outsourcing facilities must report all serious, unexpected adverse drug experiences associated 
with the use of their compounded prescription drug products.   
 
In addition, although outsourcing facilities are not required to do so, FDA strongly recommends 
that outsourcing facilities report all serious adverse drug experiences associated with their 
compounded prescription drug products. We believe reporting all serious adverse events, 
whether expected or unexpected, would provide important information about potential product 
quality issues or public health risks associated with drug products compounded by outsourcing 
facilities.   
  
B.  Threshold for Reporting 
 
As noted above, outsourcing facilities must submit to FDA reports of all serious, unexpected 
adverse events associated with their compounded prescription drugs.18  
 
When considering any adverse drug experience for submission to FDA in a report, after 
receiving information about the adverse drug experience, an outsourcing facility should actively 
investigate the following four data elements, which are described in greater detail later in this 
section: 
  
1.  An identifiable patient  
2.  An identifiable reporter  
3.  A suspect drug 
4.  A serious adverse event 
                                                           
15 See 21 CFR 310.305(f). 
16 See 21 CFR 310.305(g). 
17 See 21 CFR 310.305(h). 
18 See 21 CFR 310.305(c). 
  5  Contains Nonbinding Recommendations 
 
 
 
Although an outsourcing facility should actively seek to obtain each of these four data elements, 
the facility must submit the report as a 15-day Alert report to FDA as soon as possible, but no 
later than 15 calendar days after first receiving information about the adverse event.19  Reports 
should be submitted as long as the outsourcing facility has information on at least the 
suspect drug and the adverse event.   
 
C.  Follow-Up Reports 
 
The outsourcing facility must also promptly investigate adverse events that are the subject of a 
15-day Alert report.20  If the outsourcing facility was not able to include all four of the data 
elements in its initial report, it should exercise due diligence to obtain information about any of 
the remaining elements and should keep records of its efforts to obtain this and other relevant 
information (e.g., dates of discussions with the reporter to determine how many patients 
experienced a particular adverse event or dates of discussions with a health care facility to obtain 
contact information for an identifiable person who purports to have knowledge about the patient, 
adverse event, or drug involved).  Additionally, the outsourcing facility should report new 
information it obtains about the initial report when the information could assist FDA in 
investigating an adverse event.  If additional information is not obtainable, the outsourcing 
facility should maintain records of the steps that were taken to attempt to seek the additional 
information.21  
 
An outsourcing facility must submit a follow-up report within 15 calendar days of receipt of new 
information about the adverse event, or as requested by FDA.22   
 
D.   Description of the Four Data Elements 
 
  1.  Identifiable Patient 
 
To have an identifiable patient, there should be enough information to indicate the existence of a 
specific patient.  One or more of the following would qualify a patient as identifiable:  
 
  Age or age category (e.g., adolescent, adult, elderly) 
  Gender 
  Initials 
  Date of birth 
  Name 
  Patient identification number   
                                                           
19 See 21 CFR 310.305(c)(1)(i). 
20 See 21 CFR 310.305(c)(2). 
21 Id. 
22 Id. 
  6  Contains Nonbinding Recommendations 
 
 
 
A report stating that an elderly woman had anaphylaxis or a young man experienced 
anaphylaxis would be sufficient.  If a report refers to groups of unknown size, such as some 
or a few college students had anaphylaxis, the outsourcing facility should follow up to find out 
how many students were involved and submit a separate report to FDA for each student, because 
each is considered to be an identifiable patient.  The outsourcing facility should distinguish each 
identifiable patient so that it is clear that each report is not a duplicate report of a single adverse 
event.  
 
Patients should not be identified by name or address when reporting to FDA.  Instead, the 
outsourcing facility should assign a unique code number for each patient.23 
   
  2.  Identifiable Reporter  
 
A reporter is a person who initially notifies the outsourcing facility about an adverse event.  An 
initial reporter can be a patient, consumer, family member, doctor, pharmacist, other health care 
professional, or other individual.  The outsourcing facility should obtain, if possible, sufficient 
information to indicate that the reporter is an identifiable person who purports to have knowledge 
about the patient, adverse event, and drug involved.  One or more of the following would qualify 
a reporter as identifiable:  
 
  A personal identifier (e.g., name) 
  A professional identifier (e.g., doctor, nurse, pharmacist) 
  Contact information (e.g., e-mail address, phone number)  
 
When possible, the outsourcing facility should attempt to obtain the initial reporters contact 
information so that the outsourcing facility and/or FDA can conduct follow-up investigations.  If 
an identifiable reporter provides contact information, but requests that the outsourcing facility 
not forward this information to FDA, the outsourcing facility can submit a report to FDA without 
specifically identifying the reporter by filling out the reporter field with a statement such as 
Requested Anonymity. 
 
If an adverse event is reported anonymously to an outsourcing facility, the outsourcing facility 
should indicate in the reporter field when submitting the report to FDA that the initial reporter is 
anonymous.   
 
  3.  Suspect Drug Product 
 
A suspect drug product is one that the initial reporter suspected was associated with the adverse 
event. For reporting purposes, an adverse event report should describe the known product 
attributes (e.g., active ingredient(s), dosage form, strength, color, lot number).  If an adverse 
event involves multiple suspect drug products that are compounded by the same outsourcing 
                                                           
23 See 21 CFR 310.305(f). 
  7  Contains Nonbinding Recommendations 
 
 
facility, the outsourcing facility should submit only one report that notes the drug product 
considered most suspect by the reporter.  If the reporter views each drug product as equally 
suspect the outsourcing facility should submit only one report that lists all of the drug products as 
suspect.  In all cases, including those when not all of the drug products were made by the 
outsourcing facility, the report should include information on all suspect drug products of which 
the outsourcing facility is aware.  
 
If the compounded drug product contains multiple components (e.g., excipients, drug substances, 
finished dosage forms), the outsourcing facility should list each component and its manufacturer, 
if known.  The outsourcing facility should also list any other known medical product(s) the 
patient was taking at the time he or she experienced the adverse event and the manufacturer of 
that product(s) (i.e., any concomitant medical products).    
 
The outsourcing facility should include only the information described in this guidance on 
suspect drug products and concomitant medications of which it is aware.  For example, , FDA 
expects the outsourcing facility  to include in the report only the information on concomitant 
products that it was able to obtain from the reporter or other sources as part of the outsourcing 
facilitys follow-up obligations.  Furthermore, as noted previously, the report or information 
submitted by an outsourcing facility pursuant to section 310.305 (and any release by FDA of that 
report or information) does not necessarily reflect a conclusion that the report or information 
constitutes an admission that the drug caused or contributed to an adverse effect.24 When 
investigating the adverse event, FDA will consider how the drug was administered, the patients 
medical history, and any other relevant information.   
 
  4.  Serious Adverse Event  
 
As described above, outsourcing facilities must report an unexpected adverse event to FDA 
that results in one or more of the following patient outcomes:  
 
  Death,  
  A life-threatening adverse drug experience,  
  Inpatient hospitalization or prolongation of existing hospitalization, 
  A persistent or significant disability or incapacity, or  
  A congenital anomaly or birth defect.25  
 
Inpatient hospitalization includes initial admission to the hospital on an inpatient basis (even if 
released the same day).   
 
Important medical events that may not result in death, be life-threatening, or require 
hospitalization may be considered serious adverse drug experiences if, when based upon 
                                                           
24 See 21 CFR 310.305(h). 
25 See 21 CFR 310.305(b). 
  8  Contains Nonbinding Recommendations 
 
 
appropriate medical judgment, they may jeopardize the patient or subject and may require 
medical or surgical intervention to prevent one of the outcomes listed above. 
 
The outsourcing facility must report the adverse event to FDA if it is both serious and 
unexpected.  For reporting purposes, an adverse event should be described in terms of signs 
(including abnormal laboratory findings, if appropriate), symptoms, or disease diagnosis 
(including any colloquial descriptions obtained), if available.  
 
E.  Report Attachments and Additional Information  
 
As part of each adverse event report, outsourcing facilities must submit a copy of the current 
labeling for the compounded drug product that is the subject of the report.26  In addition, as 
part of the adverse event report, we encourage, as appropriate,  to provide the following, if 
available: (1) hospital discharge summaries, (2) autopsy reports/death certificates, (3) relevant 
laboratory data, and (4) other critical clinical data.  In the case of a death, outsourcing facilities 
should also provide any available information on the event(s) that led to the death.    
 
F.  How to Report Adverse Events 
  
FDA provides two options for electronic submission of initial and follow-up adverse event reports to 
FDA: (1) submission through the Safety Reporting Portal (SRP) 27 or (2) submission through the 
Electronic Submissions Gateway (ESG).28   For a discussion of electronic submission of adverse 
event reports to FDA, please review the draft guidance for industry, Providing Submissions in 
Electronic Format  Postmarketing Safety Reports.29  
 
Before submitting an adverse event report in electronic format to FDA for the first time, whether 
through the ESG or SRP, the outsourcing facility should notify the FDA Adverse Event Reporting 
System (FAERS) Electronic Submission Coordinator of its intent at faersesub@fda.hhs.gov.  The 
FAERS Coordinator will assist the outsourcing facility to ensure that all steps have been completed 
for successful submission of adverse event reports.  
 
Postmarketing safety reporting often involves submitting a series of reports consisting of the 
initial individual case safety report (ICSR) and follow-up ICSRs, along with any associated 
attachments, over the life cycle of an individual case. To avoid duplicate adverse event reports in 
the FAERS database, each report should have a unique case identification number, regardless of 
how it is transmitted to the FDA (i.e., SRP or ESG).  See section III.D in the draft guidance 
Providing Submissions in Electronic Format  Postmarketing Safety Reports. 
                                                           
26 See section 21 CFR 310.305(c)(1)(i). 
27 The FDA SRP Web page is available at http://www.safetyreporting.hhs.gov. 
28 The FDA ESG Web page is available at 
http://www.fda.gov/ForIndustry/ElectronicSubmissionsGateway/ucm2005551.htm. 
29 All FDA guidances are available on the FDA guidance web page. FDA updates guidances regularly.  To make 
sure you have the most recent version of a guidance, always consult the guidance web page at 
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/Guidances/default.htm. 
  9  Contains Nonbinding Recommendations 
 
 
 
G.  Inspection of Adverse Event Reporting 
 
Under section 503B(b)(4) of the FD&C Act, outsourcing facilities are subject to inspection 
pursuant to section 704 of the FD&C Act and are not eligible for the exemption under section 
704(a)(2)(A) of the FD&C Act.  As part of its inspections of outsourcing facilities, FDA may 
review adverse event information received by the outsourcing facility.30  FDA may also review 
whether the outsourcing facility has developed and implemented written processes for the 
surveillance, receipt, evaluation, and reporting of adverse events for the drug products it 
compounds as described in 21 CFR 310.305(a) and 211.198.31 
 
H.  Recordkeeping  
 
Under section 310.305, all entities subject to the regulation must maintain for 10 years the 
records of all adverse events required to be reported under this section, including raw data and 
any correspondence relating to the adverse event, and allow FDA access to review, copy, and 
verify these records, in accordance with 21 CFR 310.305(f).  In addition, the outsourcing facility 
should maintain records of its efforts to obtain the four data elements discussed in section III.B. 
for each adverse event report.    
                                                           
30 See section 21 CFR 310.305(f)(3).  
31 Outsourcing facilities are subject to current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) requirements.  Pending the 
development of further regulations, FDA expects outsourcing facilities, among other things, to comply with the 
CGMP requirements in 21 CFR 211.198, which is a companion to 21 CFR 310.305.  This section requires that 
[w]ritten procedures describing the handling of all written and oral complaints regarding a drug product shall be 
established and followed, and further requires that these procedures include provisions for review to determine 
whether the complaint represents a serious and unexpected adverse drug experience which is required to be reported 
to the Food and Drug Administration in accordance with [section] 310.305 ... of this chapter.  See FDAs draft 
guidance for industry, Current Good Manufacturing PracticeInterim Guidance for Human Drug Compounding 
Outsourcing Facilities Under Section 503B of the FD&C Act. 
  10