International Cooperation on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Veterinary Medicinal Products; Stability Testing for Medicated Premixes (Revision 1); Draft Guidance for Industry; Availability

[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 73 (Thursday, April 16, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20469-20470]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-07419]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2021-D-0613]


International Cooperation on Harmonisation of Technical 
Requirements for Registration of Veterinary Medicinal Products; 
Stability Testing for Medicated Premixes (Revision 1); Draft Guidance 
for Industry; Availability

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing 
the availability of a draft revised guidance for industry (GFI) #91 
(VICH GL8(R1)) entitled ``Stability Testing for Medicated Premixes 
(Revision 1).'' This draft guidance has been developed for veterinary 
use by the International Cooperation on Harmonisation of Technical 
Requirements for Registration of Veterinary Medicinal Products (VICH). 
Medicated premixes are intended for oral administration following 
incorporation into animal feed. This draft guidance contains updated 
recommendations for stability testing of a medicated premix as well as 
considerations for demonstrating the stability of the medicated premix 
in the intended medicated feed.

DATES: Submit either electronic or written/paper comments on the draft 
guidance by June 15, 2026 to ensure that the Agency considers your 
comment on this draft guidance before it begins work on the final 
version of the guidance.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on any guidance at any time as 
follows:

Electronic Submissions

    Submit electronic comments in the following way:
    •  Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted 
electronically, including attachments, to https://www.regulations.gov 
will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be 
made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment 
does not include any confidential information that you or a third party 
may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone 
else's Social Security number, or confidential business information, 
such as a manufacturing process. Please note that if you include your 
name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in 
the body of your comments, that information will be posted on https://www.regulations.gov.
    •  If you want to submit a comment with confidential 
information that you do not wish to be made available to the public, 
submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner 
detailed (see ``Written/Paper Submissions'' and ``Instructions'').

Written/Paper Submissions

    Submit written/paper submissions as follows:
    •  Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier (for written/paper 
submissions): Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug 
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
    •  For written/paper comments submitted to the Dockets 
Management Staff, FDA will post your comment, as well as any 
attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified, 
as confidential, if submitted as detailed in ``Instructions.''
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket No. 
FDA-2021-D-0613 for ``Stability Testing for Medicated Premixes 
(Revision 1).'' Received comments will be placed in

[[Page 20470]]

the docket and, except for those submitted as ``Confidential 
Submissions,'' publicly viewable at https://www.regulations.gov or at 
the Dockets Management Staff between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, 240-402-7500.
    •  Confidential Submissions--To submit a comment with 
confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly 
available, submit your comments only as a written/paper submission. You 
should submit two copies total. One copy will include the information 
you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover note that states 
``THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.'' The Agency will 
review this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in 
its consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the 
claimed confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be 
available for public viewing and posted on https://www.regulations.gov. 
Submit both copies to the Dockets Management Staff. If you do not wish 
your name and contact information to be made publicly available, you 
can provide this information on the cover sheet and not in the body of 
your comments and you must identify this information as 
``confidential.'' Any information marked as ``confidential'' will not 
be disclosed except in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other 
applicable disclosure law. For more information about FDA's posting of 
comments to public dockets, see 80 FR 56469 (September 18, 2015), or 
access the information at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2015-09-18/pdf/2015-23389.pdf.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in 
the heading of this document, into the ``Search'' box and follow the 
prompts and/or go to the Dockets Management Staff, 5630 Fishers Lane, 
Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852, 240-402-7500.
    You may submit comments on any guidance at any time (see 21 CFR 
10.115(g)(5)).
    Submit written requests for single copies of the guidance to the 
Policy and Regulations Staff, Center for Veterinary Medicine, Food and 
Drug Administration, 5001 Campus Drive, College Park, MD 20740. Send 
one self-addressed adhesive label to assist that office in processing 
your requests. See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for electronic 
access to the draft guidance document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Heather Longstaff, Center for 
Veterinary Medicine, Food and Drug Administration, 5001 Campus Drive, 
College Park, MD 20740, 240-402-0651, Heather.Longstaff@fda.hhs.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    FDA is announcing the availability of a draft revised GFI #91 (VICH 
GL8 (R1) entitled ``Stability Testing for Medicated Premixes (Revision 
1).'' Medicated premixes are intended for oral administration following 
incorporation into animal feed. This draft revised guidance contains 
updated recommendations for stability testing of a medicated premix as 
well as considerations for demonstrating the stability of the medicated 
premix in the intended medicated feed.
    FDA has participated in efforts to enhance harmonization and is 
committed to seeking scientifically based harmonized technical 
procedures for pharmaceutical development. One of the goals of 
harmonization is to identify, and then reduce, differences in technical 
requirements for drug development among regulatory agencies in 
different countries. FDA has actively participated in the International 
Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Approval of 
Pharmaceuticals for Human Use to develop harmonized technical 
requirements for the approval of human pharmaceutical and biological 
products among the European Union, Japan, and the United States. The 
VICH is a parallel initiative for veterinary medicinal products. The 
goal of the VICH is to develop harmonized technical requirements for 
the approval of veterinary medicinal products in the European Union, 
Japan, and the United States, and receives input from both regulatory 
and industry representatives.
    The VICH Steering Committee is composed of member representatives 
from the European Commission and European Medicines Agency; 
AnimalhealthEurope; FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, and U.S. 
Department of Agriculture's Center for Veterinary Biologics; the U.S. 
Animal Health Institute; the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry 
and Fisheries; and the Japanese Veterinary Products Association. There 
are 10 observers to the VICH Steering Committee: 1 representative from 
government and 1 representative from industry of Australia, New 
Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. The World 
Organisation for Animal Health is an associate member of the VICH. The 
VICH Secretariat, which coordinates the preparation of documentation, 
is provided by HealthforAnimals.
    This level 1 draft guidance is being issued consistent with FDA's 
good guidance practices regulation (21 CFR 10.115). The draft guidance, 
when finalized, will represent the current thinking of FDA on 
``Stability Testing for Medicated Premixes (Revision 1).'' It does not 
establish any rights for any person and is not binding on FDA or the 
public. You can use an alternative approach if it satisfies the 
requirements of the applicable statutes and regulations.
    As we develop final guidance on this topic, FDA will consider 
comments on costs or cost savings the guidance may generate, relevant 
for Executive Order 14192.

II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    While this guidance contains no collection of information, it does 
refer to previously approved FDA collections of information. The 
previously approved collections of information are subject to review by 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521). The collections of information 
in 21 CFR part 514 and in 512(n)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and 
Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 360b(n)(1)) have been approved under OMB 
control number 0910-0032. The collections of information in 21 CFR part 
511 have been approved under OMB control number 0910-0117.

III. Electronic Access

    Persons with access to the internet may obtain the draft guidance 
at https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/GuidanceComplianceEnforcement/GuidanceforIndustry/default.htm, https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents, or https://www.regulations.gov.

Grace R. Graham,
Deputy Commissioner for Policy, Legislation, and International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2026-07419 Filed 4-15-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4164-01-P