Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Assessment of FDA’s Final Guidance on Risk-based Monitoring

Yesterday, FDA finalized its 2011 draft guidance on risk-based monitoring (RBM). Without preamble, here’s what has changed.

Compared with the draft version of the guidance, the final version:


  • Reinforces, even strengthens, its support of RBM
  • Suggests “more intensive monitoring” does not necessarily indicate on-site monitoring
  • Provides specific examples of critical/non-critical data and tasks that could be accomplished remotely
  • Emphasizes the importance of protocol and CRF design
  • Notes that, under RBM, delegating monitoring obligations to a CRO requires more clarity, communication, and evaluation than traditional monitoring