Confidential Treatment Requested by Organon & Co.
pursuant to 17 C.F.R. Section 200.83
source of budget savings. In markets with historically low rates of health care spending, we encourage those governments to increase their investments and adopt market reforms in order to improve their citizens’ access to appropriate health care, including medicines.
Operating conditions have become more challenging under the global pressures of competition, industry regulation and cost containment efforts. Although no one can predict the effect of these and other factors on our business, we continually take measures to evaluate, adapt and improve the organization and our business practices to better meet customer needs and believe that we are well-positioned to respond to the evolving health care environment and market forces, including by helping payors manage their overall drug costs through our biosimilars business.
Regulation of Our Products
The pharmaceutical industry is subject to extensive regulation by government authorities in the United States, at the federal, state, and local levels, and in other countries and jurisdictions, including the European Union, focused on standards and processes for determining drug safety and effectiveness, as well as conditions for sale or reimbursement. Further areas of regulation include, among other things, the research, development, testing, manufacture, approval, quality control, labelling, packaging, promotion, storage, advertising, distribution, post-approval monitoring and reporting, marketing and export and import of products. Our product candidates must be approved by the FDA before they may be legally marketed in the United States and will be subject to similar regulatory requirements in other countries and jurisdictions. The processes for obtaining regulatory approval in the United States and in foreign countries and jurisdictions, along with compliance with applicable statutes and regulations and other regulatory authorities are a significant factor in the marketing of our products and require the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources.
Of particular importance is the FDA in the United States, which administers requirements covering the testing, approval, safety, effectiveness, manufacturing, labeling and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals. In some cases, the FDA requirements and practices have increased the amount of time and resources necessary to develop new products and bring them to market in the United States. At the same time, the FDA has committed to expediting the development and review of products meeting unmet medical need which can increase the interaction with the FDA and accelerate the regulatory review process. The FDA has also undertaken efforts to bring generic and biosimilar competition to market more efficiently and in a more timely manner.
The EU has adopted directives and other legislation concerning the classification, labeling, advertising, wholesale distribution, integrity of the supply chain, enhanced pharmacovigilance monitoring and approval for marketing of pharmaceutical products for human use. These provide mandatory standards throughout the EU, which may be supplemented or implemented with additional regulations by the EU Member States. In particular, EU regulators may approve products subject to a number of post-authorization conditions. Examples of typical post-authorization commitments include additional pharmacovigilance, the conduct of clinical trials, the establishment of patient registries, physician or patient education and controlled distribution and prescribing arrangements. Non-compliance with post-authorization conditions, pharmacovigilance and other obligations can lead to regulatory action, including the variation, suspension or withdrawal of the marketing authorizations, or other enforcement or regulatory actions, including the imposition of financial penalties. Our policies and procedures are already consistent with the substance of these directives; consequently, we believe that they will not have any material effect on our business.
We believe that we will continue to be able to conduct our operations, including launching new drugs, in this regulatory environment.
The Regulatory Approval Process in the United States
Industry practice and government regulations in the United States and most foreign countries provide for the determination of effectiveness and safety of new chemical compounds suitable for pharmaceutical use through
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