Expanded Access to Investigational Drugs for Treatment Use: Questions and Answers
Summary
FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research issued guidance (Docket FDA-2013-D-0446) clarifying expanded access regulations for investigational drugs under 21 CFR part 312, subpart I, addressing frequently asked questions from industry, researchers, physicians, institutional review boards, and patients. The guidance incorporates statutory requirements from the 21st Century Cures Act and FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017. The document is available for ongoing public comment through the regulations.gov docket system.
What changed
FDA updated its question-and-answer guidance document on expanded access to investigational drugs for treatment use, incorporating additional questions received since 2017 and new statutory requirements from the 21st Century Cures Act and FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017. The guidance addresses implementation of regulations that became effective October 13, 2009.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers, clinical investigators, healthcare providers, institutional review boards, and patients involved in expanded access requests should review the updated guidance to ensure compliance with current regulatory expectations. The guidance remains open for comments at any time through the regulations.gov docket.
Archived snapshot
Apr 18, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
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Docket Number: FDA-2013-D-0446 Issued by: Guidance Issuing Office Center for Drug Evaluation and Research This guidance provides information for industry, researchers, physicians, institutional review boards, and patients about the implementation of FDA’s regulations on expanded access to investigational drugs for treatment use under an investigational new drug application (21 CFR part 312, subpart I), which went into effect on October 13, 2009. FDA received numerous questions concerning implementation of the regulatory requirements for expanded access. As a result, FDA issued the guidance for industry Expanded Access to Investigational Drugs for Treatment Use: Questions and Answers (June 2016, updated October 2017), providing recommendations in a question-and-answer format, addressing the most frequently asked questions. Since 2017, FDA has received additional questions concerning implementation of the regulatory and statutory requirements of expanded access to investigational drugs, including those added by the 21st Century Cures Act and the FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017.
Submit Comments
Submit Comments Online You can submit online or written comments on any guidance at any time (see 21 CFR 10.115(g)(5))
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 written comments should be identified with this document's docket number: FDA-2013-D-0446.
- ## Content current as of:
04/17/2026
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- Administrative / Procedural
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