Over-the-Counter (OTC) drug monographs represent current regulatory standards for the marketing of non-prescription drug products not covered by new drug applications. These standards provide the marketing conditions for some OTC drug products including the active ingredients, labeling, and other general requirement in the US, OTC drug medicines making up around 60% of all medicines (Prescription (Rx) and Non-Prescription). Developed in 1972, the OTC monograph system has been instrumental in lowering the cost of entry and standardizing requirements across different formulations, however progress in moving forward in adding and amending monographs has not kept up with expectations of the FDA or industry mostly due to an outdated, multi-layered rulemaking process. This caused a large OTC Monograph backlog in which product labels could take years to update. As a response to this, included in the CARES Act, (implemented into law on March 27, 2020) is a major piece of federal legislation that amends the FD&C Act to modernize the OTC drug review and OTC monograph drug development process, essentially by removing...
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