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GUIDANCE DOCUMENT

Exploratory IND Studies Guidance for Industry, Investigators, and Reviewers January 2006

Final
Issued by:
Guidance Issuing Office
Center for Drug Evaluation and Research

This guidance is intended to clarify what preclinical and clinical approaches, as well as chemistry, manufacturing, and controls information, should be considered when planning exploratory studies in humans, including studies of closely related drugs or therapeutic biological products, under an investigational new drug (IND) application (21 CFR 312).  Existing regulations allow a great deal of flexibility in the amount of data that needs to be submitted with an IND application, depending on the goals of the proposed investigation, the specific human testing proposed, and the expected risks. The Agency believes that sponsors have not taken full advantage of that flexibility and often provide more supporting information in INDs than is required by regulations.  This guidance is intended to clarify what manufacturing controls, preclinical testing, and clinical approaches can be considered when planning limited, early exploratory IND studies in humans.   

For the purposes of this guidance the phrase exploratory IND study is intended to describe a clinical trial that

  • is conducted early in phase 1,
  • involves very limited human exposure, and
  • has no therapeutic or diagnostic intent (e.g., screening studies, microdose studies). 

Such exploratory IND studies are conducted prior to the traditional dose escalation, safety, and tolerance studies that ordinarily initiate a clinical drug development program.  The duration of dosing in an exploratory IND study is expected to be limited (e.g., 7 days).  This guidance applies to early phase 1 clinical studies of investigational new drug and biological products that assess feasibility for further development of the drug or biological product.


Submit Comments

Submit comments on this guidance document electronically via docket ID: FDA-2013-S-0610 - Specific Electronic Submissions Intended For FDA's Dockets Management Staff (i.e., Citizen Petitions, Draft Proposed Guidance Documents, Variances, and other administrative record submissions)

If unable to submit comments online, please mail written comments to:

Dockets Management
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers Lane, Rm 1061
Rockville, MD 20852

All comments should be identified with the title of the guidance.

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