April 15, 2020
In Short
FDA seeks more input on drug compounding rules
Federal officials resumed taking comments on plans to let veterinarians and pharmacists compound animal drugs from raw active ingredients under narrow circumstances.
Food and Drug Administration officials plan to accept comments through June 17. They accepted comments Nov. 20 to Feb. 18 and, on Feb. 20, announced the extension.
Draft guidance published in November 2019 describes the animal drug compounding methods that agency officials consider to be legal, as well as which would be illegal but allowed.
In general, making an animal drug from raw active ingredients constitutes creating a new product, which requires FDA review. Agency officials indicated certain exceptions would benefit patients with, say, allergies or poisoning.
The AVMA was among organizations that requested the FDA extend the comment period, along with the American Pharmacists Association, Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding, and National Community Pharmacists Association.
FDA officials are accepting comments submitted under docket number FDA-2018-D-4533.
AKC Canine Health Foundation awards over $2M in research grants
The American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation announced Feb. 27 that it had awarded over $2.1 million in 36 new grants for research on canine health.
Highlights from the new grants include the following studies:
- “Identifying early stage ultra-rare mutations as predictive biomarkers of lymphoma in high-risk versus low-risk breeds within the Dog Aging Project.”
- “Histotripsy for treatment of canine appendicular osteosarcoma.”
- “Tumor-educated platelets: A minimally invasive liquid biopsy for early cancer diagnosis.”
- “Clinical trial of Prevotella histicola supplementation to ameliorate meningoencephalomyelitis of unknown origin.”
- “Defining the effect of genotype, breed and age on the risk of developing canine degenerative myelopathy and investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying that risk.”
Free dermatology webinars available from world association
The World Association for Veterinary Dermatology has developed a foundation course in veterinary dermatology, which comprised 30 webinars as of early March.
The webinars can be viewed free of charge. The contributors are from around the world and are all experts in their fields.
The WAVD intends the webinars for fourth-year veterinary students and general practitioners who wish to increase their knowledge of the discipline of veterinary dermatology. In addition, several of the webinars contain important new information of value to those pursuing advanced studies in the discipline.
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