The United States FDA has received over 800 botanical investigational new drug applications (IND) and pre-IND meeting requests (PIND) in the years preceding 2018. Between 2016 and 2019, 195 botanical drug clinical trials were registered, of which 81 are phase 2. By the end of 2018, over 600 IND applications were in clinical development under the botanical drug category. Two botanical new drug applications (NDA) have been approved in the U.S.: Veregen in 2006 and Fulyzaq (also known as Mytesi) in 2012. Given botanicals’ chemical and biological complexity, efforts in characterizing their pharmacology, demonstrating therapeutic efficacy, and ensuring quality consistency remain scientific and regulatory challenges. The FDA published a revised Botanical Drug Development Guidance for Industry document in December 2016 to address developmental considerations for late-phase trials and to provide recommendations intended to facilitate botanical drug development. Herein, we present an analysis of botanical INDs showing their variety of botanical raw materials (e.g., coming from different geographic regions, single vs multiple herbs), the varied levels of previous human experience, and therapeutic areas, as well as provide an overview of experience and challenges in reviewing botanical drugs.
Authors: Charles Wu, Botanical Review Team, Science Staff, Immediate Office, Office of Pharmaceutical Quality, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland 20993, United States
Source: J. Nat. Prod. 2020, 83, 2, 552–562