A new drug may not be approved for marketing unless it has been shown to be safe and effective for its intended use(s). After approval, the applicant is required to establish and maintain records and make reports related to clinical experience or other data or information necessary to make or facilitate a determination of whether there are or may be grounds under section 505(e) of the act for suspending or withdrawing approval of the application. Some drugs, because of the nature of the condition for which they are intended, must be used for long periods of time—even a lifetime. To acquire necessary data for determining the safety and effectiveness of long-term use of such drugs, extensive animal and clinical tests are required as a condition of approval. Nonetheless, the therapeutic or prophylactic usefulness of such drugs may make it inadvisable in the public interest to delay the availability of the drugs for widespread clinical use pending completion of such long-term studies. In such cases, the Food and Drug Administration may approve the new drug application on condition that the necessary long-term studies will be conducted and the results recorded and reported in an organized fashion. The procedures required by paragraph (b) of this section will be followed in order to list such a drug in § 310.304.

A proposal to require additional or continued studies with a drug for which a new drug application has been approved may be made by the Commissioner on his own initiative or on the petition of any interested person, pursuant to part 10 of this chapter. Prior to issuance of such a proposal, the applicant will be provided an opportunity for a conference with representatives of the Food and Drug Administration. When appropriate, investigators or other individuals may be invited to participate in the conference. All requirements for special studies, records, and reports will be published in § 310.304.