CBER/CDER Study Data Standards for Regulatory Submissions Position Statement

FDA recognizes the investment made by sponsors over the past decade to develop the expertise and infrastructure to utilize Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC)[1] standards for study data. The submission of standardized study data enhances a reviewer’s ability to more fully understand and characterize the efficacy and safety of a medical product.

The Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA V)[2] Performance Goals state that FDA will develop guidance for industry on the use of CDISC data standards for the electronic submission of study data in applications. In the near future, FDA will publish guidance that will require study data in conformance to CDISC standards.[3]

FDA envisions a semantically interoperable and sustainable submission environment that serves both regulated clinical research and health care. To this end, FDA will continue to research and evaluate, with its stakeholders, potential new approaches to current and emerging data standards. FDA does not foresee the replacement of CDISC standards for study data and will not implement new approaches without public input on the cost and utility of those approaches.