The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry on the assessment of risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS) entitled “REMS Assessment: Planning and Reporting; Draft Guidance for Industry.” The draft guidance is one of several guidance documents being developed to fulfill performance goals under the fifth authorization of the prescription drug user fee program, the Prescription Drug User Fee Act V. This draft guidance describes how to develop a REMS Assessment Plan; specifically, how the REMS program goals, objectives, and REMS design may impact the selection of metrics and data sources, which will be used to assess whether the REMS is meeting its risk mitigation goals.

The draft guidance recommends assessing the REMS using both process measures and outcome measures and provides examples of metrics by assessment categories, as well as data sources that may be utilized to evaluate the performance of the REMS. The draft guidance also discusses considerations for assessing the impact of REMS on patient access to the drug or its burden to the healthcare delivery system. Finally, this draft guidance provides recommendations on a standardized approach for reporting REMS assessment findings to FDA using the REMS Assessment Report.