Biotechnology Legal/Regulatory

This course will cover basic design issues, conduct, and execution of clinical trials for drugs and biologics. Clinical trial design will be analyzed to better understand various clinical trial study designs along with concepts such as endpoint definition, control group selection, and eligibility criteria. Other areas of emphasis will include informed consent, safety monitoring, ICH Good Clinical Practice (GCP), basic statistical concepts, data collection and integrity, trial implementation and regulatory strategy. Various challenges and points to consider for conducting clinical trials in the 21st century will be highlighted along with a close look at regulations. There will be three hands-on projects which will include authoring an informed consent, designing a case report form, and creating a presentation on clinical trial strategy. Prerequisites: 410.651 Clinical Development of Drugs and Biologics (recommended).

This course introduces students to the planning and work required to develop potential new drugs and biologics efficiently. Students gain a thorough appreciation of FDA and International Council for Harmonisation regulations and guidelines. Because the course emphasizes the importance of planning before the execution of any of the necessary steps, lectures use a “backward” approach, discussing the final analysis and report before developing protocols. Topics also include an overview of preclinical investigations, NDA/BLA format and content, clinical development plans, product and assay development, the IND, and trial design, implementation, and management. Prerequisites: 410.607 The Biotechnology Enterprise, or admission to one of the business/regulatory programs

This course provides an overview of the biological processes and laboratory techniques utilized for the discovery, development, and evaluation of therapeutic drugs. Students investigate drug development processes, such as gene cloning, culture scale-up, downstream processing, and product purification. Emphasis is placed on the theory and application of laboratory methods used in drug development, such as recombinant DNA techniques, antibody technology, protein purification, immunoassays, high-throughput drug screening, chromatography, electrophoresis cell receptor characterization, pharmacokinetics, drug toxicity testing and evaluation of therapeutic drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines. Prerequisites: 410.607 The Biotechnology Enterprise, or admission to one of the business/regulatory programs

Pharmaceutical/biotechnology product approval and marketing requires a good understanding of international regulatory affairs in order to successfully compete in today’s global marketplace. It is important for tomorrow’s leaders to understand and follow the regulatory differences to ensure optimum product development strategies, regulatory approvals, and designs for exports conforming to the foreign regulatory bodies. There are various product development strategies that industry is using to shorten the product development time by conducting preclinical programs outside the U.S., but the strategies require careful planning and interaction with the U.S. and foreign regulatory agencies. With the increased globalization of economy and exports, international regulations will have a bigger impact on the biotechnology business in the future. The course provides a review and analysis of the pharmaceutical/biotechnology product approval processes within the world’s major markets. The key strategies required in phases from preclinical product development to marketing approval of the products in Europe, Japan, and the U.S. will be compared and discussed. Students will explore the European Union regulations and their overall importance to international markets. The course will cover the salient features of common technical and regulatory documents required for submission and approval to the leading regulatory bodies in the world, general guidance documents, international harmonization, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act governs the regulatory approval process for bringing a drug, biologic, medical device, food, or cosmetic to market. The class will discuss administrative procedures followed by the FDA. The course includes an overview of the drug, biologic, and medical device approval processes and the regulation of food and dietary supplements. Students then will be exposed to the enforcement activities of the FDA, including searches, seizure actions, injunctions, criminal prosecutions, and civil penalties authorized under the FD&C Act as well as other statutes, like the Public Health Service Act, which regulates the development and approval of biologics.

Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations are the minimum standards for the design, production, and distribution of drug products manufactured in the U.S. and internationally. In the U.S., they are codified at the federal level in the FD&C Act and the Code of Federal Regulations and are actively enforced by the FDA. These regulations, however, only begin to describe the practices used in the pharmaceutic and biotech industries. Additional sources of insight and guidance include the FDA’s guidance documents and training manuals, industry trade publications, international compendia, and standards-setting organizations. Students will learn the scope and history of the regulations, industry-standard implementation strategies and “best-practices” approaches, and the FDA’s current expectations. Students will also learn to apply practical solutions to the regulatory issues faced in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries today.

This course is an introduction to the multidisciplinary aspect involved in the process of translating innovations in technology into commercial use, particularly research discoveries emanating from universities and other nonprofit organizations.