Fairness in Orphan Drug Exclusivity Act

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to limitations on exclusive approval or licensure of orphan drugs, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Fairness in Orphan Drug Exclusivity Act 2. Limitations on exclusive approval or licensure of orphan drugs Section 527 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act ( 21 U.S.C. 360cc (1) in subsection (a), by striking Except as provided in subsection (b) Except as provided in subsection (b) or (f) (2) by adding at the end the following: (f) Limitations on exclusive approval, certification, or license (1) In general For a drug designated under section 526 for a rare disease or condition pursuant to the criteria set forth in subsection (a)(2)(B) of such section, the Secretary shall not grant, recognize, or apply exclusive approval or licensure under subsection (a), and, if such exclusive approval or licensure has been granted, recognized, or applied, shall revoke such exclusive approval or licensure, unless the sponsor of the application for such drug demonstrates with respect to an application approved or a license issued after the date of enactment of this subsection, upon such approval or issuance, that there is no reasonable expectation at the time of such approval or issuance that the cost of developing and making available in the United States such drug for such disease or condition will be recovered from sales in the United States of such drug, taking into account all sales made or reasonably expected to be made within 12 years of first marketing the drug. (2) Considerations For purposes of paragraph (1), the Secretary and the sponsor of the application for the drug designated for a rare disease or condition described in such paragraph shall consider sales from all drugs that— (A) are developed or marketed by the same sponsor or manufacturer of the drug (or a licensor, predecessor in interest, or other related entity to the sponsor or manufacturer); and (B) are covered by the same designation under section 526. (3) Criteria No drug designated under section 526 for a rare disease or condition pursuant to the criteria set forth in subsection (a)(2)(B) of such section shall be eligible for exclusive approval or licensure under this section unless it met such criteria under such subsection on the date on which the drug was approved or licensed. .

Summary: Fairness in Orphan Drug Exclusivity Act This bill limits which orphan drugs may be granted a market exclusivity period by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (Generally, an orphan drug is one that is not economically viable because of the rarity of the disease that it treats; the sponsor of an FDA-designated orphan drug may be granted various incentives, such as a seven-year period in which the FDA may not grant market approval to a different sponsor for the same drug to treat the same disease.) Under this bill, if a drug is designated as an orphan drug on the basis that there is no reasonable expectation that the sponsor will recover the costs of developing and distributing the drug from U.S. sales, the drug shall be granted the seven-year exclusivity period only if the sponsor demonstrates that there is no reasonable expectation that it will recover such costs within its first 12 years of U.S. sales of the drug. When deciding whether an orphan drug meets this requirement, the FDA shall consider the sales of all drugs from the sponsor that are covered by the same orphan drug designation.