Despite Progress, More Work Needed To Harmonize FDA and EMA Criteria For Biowaivers

While FDA took a big leap forward by waiving bioequivalence studies for BCS Class 3 drugs and aligning biowaiver rules with the EU, there is still work that needs to be done to harmonize solubility and permeability criteria. Until these differences are resolved, pharmaceutical manufacturers may still need to perform separate studies in getting biowaivers approved in these to jurisdictions. This issue is taking on more prominence now as ICH is looking into harmonizing biowaiver requirements worldwide.