A problem-solving team with unique technical skills clients trust.
Locke Lord's FDA Regulatory Practice offers a unique combination of broad-based legislative and regulatory experience, knowledge of the industries we serve and scientific capabilities. From day-to-day counseling to major institutional crises, or obtaining marketing approvals, we understand our clients’ strategic commercial priorities and their products and portfolios.
The Locke Lord team has decades of collective experience in all facets of regulation involving:
We represent manufacturers, marketers, suppliers, wholesalers, dealers, retailers and industry participants in transactions, the provision of regulatory compliance advice and in all manner of litigation. We have worked on matters involving the FDA, CPSC, USDA, FTC, DOJ and Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and various state and local regulatory agencies. Our lawyers understand the intersections of business and government and are skilled navigators of the often challenging operating environment created by all levels of government.
Our team members bring significant global experience from within the HHS, FTC and private industry.
Pharmaceuticals and Biologics
Locke Lord's regulatory and government relations practitioners represent our generic pharmaceutical and biologics clients in such matters as approvals, current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) compliance, post-market requirements and regulatory exclusivities under the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act and Biologics Competition Price and Innovation Act.
Our lawyers regularly advise clients in designing Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS), responding and filing citizen petitions, preparing for agency meetings and appeals and securing agreements with third-party vendors. We have experience managing domestic and international inspections undertaken by the FDA. We have litigated industry vs. industry lawsuits as well as in cases brought under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) and Lanham Act.
Medical Devices
Our group has experience working with a broad range of medical devices in all classes, including clearances of 510(k)s. We handle the broad spectrum of post-market compliance, including supplementation, post-market surveillance, establishment registration, product listing, inspections, medical device reporting and recalls. We have provided significant assistance and guidance on the FDA's recently issued Emergency Use Authorizations for regulated devices as a result of the pandemic.
Food and Dietary Supplements
Locke Lord's regulatory team counsels clients in the food and dietary supplement industries as well as medical food, food additives, food ingredients and pet food industries. Among the areas with which we assist in compliance are the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act (DSHEA), Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA) and the Bioterrorism Act.
Cosmetics and Over-the-Counter Drugs
Locke Lord's regulatory team has extensive experience in counseling clients in the cosmetics industry and in the OTC drug industry for monographed OTC drugs on FDA compliance, including product packaging, labeling and advertising. We are fully versed in the impact of the new OTC Act, which was passed as part of the CARES Act. We provide counseling and representation in all areas of cosmetics and OTC drug regulations, including:
Locke Lord has played a leadership role in the cosmetics and personal care industry, with one of our lawyers serving on the Board of Directors of one of the leading cosmetic and personal care trade associations, and has drafted and responded to significant legislative challenges.
USDA
Our team represents clients before the USDA and its many departments. The issues we have managed include nutrition and labeling, meat and poultry safety and labeling perishable products, animal feed, organic agriculture, transgenic crops, plant pests, animal welfare, various permitting questions, product development and recalls.
Cannabis
Our team provides guidance through the maze of the various regulatory agencies, such as the FDA, DEA and FTC and state and local authorities, for the advertising, distribution and sale of cannabis and cannabis-containing products. This includes FDA regulatory issues presented by manufacturing, using and selling of cannabis products made from industrial hemp as well as products that contain derivatives of industrial hemp, such as CBD from industrial hemp, which are now covered under the Farm Bill of 2018. Our lawyers have had extensive experience in counseling in the marketing and advertising of these products.