This guidance is intended to serve as a foundational guidance to assist applicants in determining which one of the abbreviated approval pathways under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) is appropriate for the submission of a marketing application to FDA. Many potential drug product developers are not familiar with the different abbreviated approval pathways for drug products under the FD&C Act — the abbreviated approval pathways described in section 505(j) and 505(b)(2) of the FD&C Act (21 U.S.C. 355(j) and 21 U.S.C. 355(b)(2), respectively) — or the types of data and information that are permitted to support approval under those pathways. In order to familiarize potential drug product developers with these abbreviated pathways, this guidance highlights criteria for submitting applications under the abbreviated approval pathways described in section 505(j) and 505(b)(2), identifies considerations to help potential applicants determine whether an application would be more appropriately submitted under section 505(j) or pursuant to section 505(b)(2) of the FD&C Act, and provides direction to potential applicants on requesting assistance from FDA in making this determination.

In general, FDA’s guidance documents do not establish legally enforceable responsibilities. Instead, guidances describe the Agency’s current thinking on a topic and should be viewed only as recommendations, unless specific regulatory or statutory requirements are cited. The use of the word should in Agency guidances means that something is suggested or recommended, but not required