Good Laboratory Practice for Nonclinical Laboratory Studies

Under the proposed GLP Quality System, we intend to enhance the current quality system approach for nonclinical laboratory studies. The GLP Quality System will provide additional responsibilities for testing facility management and new responsibilities for maintaining SOPs. We propose modifications to the definition of a testing facility to be applicable to all nonclinical laboratory studies, whether they are conducted at a single facility or at multiple sites. We propose amending roles and functions consistent with the revised testing facility definition. We expect that a GLP Quality System will provide the appropriate framework for building quality into a nonclinical laboratory study and will result in more reliable data for us to consider when making regulatory decisions.

Costs estimates of the rule include annual costs from the additional reporting and recordkeeping responsibilities required under the proposed GLP Quality System. One-time costs include reading and understanding the rule, updating existing SOPs, writing new SOPs, and training. We estimate annualized costs, over a 10-year period, at a 7-percent discount rate would average $51.9 million, or $51.5 million with a 3- percent discount rate. We lack sufficient information to quantify the benefits of the proposed rule, but we anticipate that it would result in better quality and more reliable data to support applications and submissions to us.

Regulatory Impact Analysis

Good Laboratory Practice for Nonclinical Laboratory Studies; Proposed Rule (PDF - 548KB)

Federal Register: Good Laboratory Practice for Nonclinical Laboratory Studies

Docket: FDA-2010-N-0548-0088