While You Were Meeting: FDA Mails Letters to 14 More Genetic Test Providers
Earlier this week the FDA held a widely publicized two-day public meeting to discuss its planned regulation of laboratory developed tests (LDTs) (for more see: Day One Recap and Day Two Recap). Other than Monday morning, when the FDA presented background information on LDTs and some of the considerations that have pushed the Agency to pursue a “risk-based application of oversight to LDTs,” the top Agency officials at the meeting were conspicuously quiet. Elsewhere, however, the FDA was doing plenty of talking.
In letters dated July 19th, the first day of the FDA’s public LDT meeting, the Agency continued its crackdown on direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic test providers, mailing letters to 14 providers of genetic tests. A list of all 14 companies and tests appears below.
The Conversation Continues: Recap from Day Two of FDA’s Regulatory Meeting
The second and final day of the FDA’s “Public Meeting on Oversight of Laboratory Developed Tests” (LDTs) brought forth many of the same comments and themes as the first. The primary difference was that, whereas the first day began with some comments from the Agency that provided a few hints about what the FDA has in store for LDTs, the second day was notable for the FDA’s near-total silence (although key officials were present and listening). Indeed, perhaps the loudest applause of the day was reserved for Sharon Terry of Genetic Alliance, who remarked that while she was glad the FDA had invited so many comments, “it would be nice [if the Agency] would say something back.”
Something Old, Something New. In addition to a reiteration of yesterday’s themes – especially the need for additional data demonstrating how LDTs are used and what harms, if any, they have inflicted on consumers and patients – a few new areas of discussion emerged over the course of the day. Those included:
Consumer Genetics Needs More Transparency, Not Excessive Regulation
Editor’s Note: Daniel MacArthur, a researcher at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK, and the author of Genetic Future, co-wrote this post, which originally appeared in Xconomy.
Are you ready for consumer genetics? Is your government?
Recent announcements of federal investigations into the budding direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing industry suggest that authorities are preparing to increase regulation of companies offering consumers access to their own genetic data. However, rather than rushing in to clamp down on the industry, regulators should slow down and focus, first, on understanding this complex field.
An increasing number of individuals are exploring their genetic information using tests purchased directly over the Internet. For between $100 and $1,000 consumers can purchase a saliva collection tube, spit in the tube, and mail it back to the company. A few weeks later the results are available online. One DTC genetics company, 23andMe, recently announced that it had provided its test to over 30,000 customers.
Genetic tests can provide the consumer with personalized information ranging from eye color, to ancestry, to risk of common diseases such as diabetes. Many companies include all of these traits and more in a single product examining hundreds of thousands of genetic markers. For the moment, these tests are available to anybody with a computer and a sense of curiosity. But that could all change.
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Breaking: FDA Moves to Broadly Regulate LDTs
Earlier today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it will hold a public meeting July 19-20 to “discuss how the agency will oversee laboratory-developed tests (LDTs).” The FDA has made several high-profile announcements over the past month – particularly in the area of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing – but today’s development, despite its not receiving the same degree of media attention, is likely the most significant development to date.
Why? Until today, the FDA’s recent announcements have involved a series of letters to DTC genetic testing companies, beginning last month with Pathway Genomics and continuing last week with letters to five other prominent DTC companies. Despite all of the attention paid to these letters, the sum total of the FDA’s regulatory focus amounted to only a handful of products. Today’s announcement, on the other hand, declares the FDA’s intent to much more aggressively regulate the entire field of LDTs. While an exact count of the number of LDTs available is impossible, GeneTests.org lists more than 2,000 genetic tests from nearly 600 laboratories, numbers which do not even include genetic tests and other diagnostic products offered DTC. After having been criticized for a policy of case-by-case regulation, the FDA has answered with a move to regulate the entire field of laboratory-based testing.
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Challenging the FDA: A History Lesson for DTC Genetics
Last week the FDA sent letters to five personal genomics companies alleging that the companies are manufacturing and selling medical devices without appropriate FDA review. The FDA’s decision to substantially increase its regulatory oversight of some of the most prominent direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic service providers has met with a mixed reaction. Supporters of the move argue that these DTC products are medical in nature and require more stringent regulatory controls. Critics, including at least one of the companies receiving a letter (23andMe), fault the FDA for adopting a paternalistic stance to personal genetic information and imposing unnecessary regulatory controls.
What’s Next for DTC? In last week’s post, we outlined several possible responses available to DTC genetics companies, including (1) pulling products from market, (2) agreeing to comply with FDA regulatory requirements, (3) modifying products to avoid FDA oversight or (4) challenging the FDA’s regulatory authority over DTC genetic testing products. We also noted the possibility that the FDA’s decision to look more closely at DTC genetic tests could presage increased scrutiny of the genetic testing industry more broadly, including the many tests currently offered without FDA clearance or approval as laboratory developed tests (LDTs).
Breaking: Congressional Committee Requests Additional Information Regarding 23andMe Sample Swap
Nearly a month ago we reported that the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce had launched an investigation into direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing, sending letters to several of the most prominent DTC companies: 23andMe, Pathway Genomics and Navigenics.
Today the Committee has followed up with another letter, this one directed to 23andMe president and co-founder Anne Wojcicki, inquiring into the circumstances surrounding the company’s recent and widely reported sample swap. The letter (pdf), which is signed by the same four Representatives (Waxman, Barton, Stupak and Burgess) requests the following:
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What Five FDA Letters Mean for the Future of DTC Genetic Testing
The FDA has published online letters sent to five personal genomics companies – 23andMe, Navigenics, deCODE Genetics, Knome and Illumina – informing the companies that they are manufacturing and selling medical devices without appropriate FDA premarket review and approval. No surprise that the news that the FDA has sent out letters to some of the most well-known providers of DTC genetic testing products is already making waves. (Daniel MacArthur was the first to point me to the AP story, and Mary Carmichael of Newsweek and Andrew Pollack of The New York Times were among the first to dive into the substance of the letters.)
Below, we will discuss the immediate and long-term implications of the FDA’s most recent regulatory actions for the five companies receiving letters, as well as for the DTC genetic testing industry. First, however, a review of the letters themselves is required. Each of the five two-page letters is signed by Alberto Gutierrez, Director of the FDA’s Office of In Vitro Diagnostic Device Evaluation and Safety (OIVD), and follows a similar format throughout. To gauge the impact of these letters we will take them paragraph by paragraph.
Why 23andMe’s Sample Swap is Actually an Argument In Favor of DTC Genetic Testing
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing company 23andMe made news this week thanks to a lab mix-up that left up to 96 customers reviewing genetic data that was not their own. Full details of the mix-up, and analysis of 23andMe’s response, are available from Daniel MacArthur at Genetic Future and Turna Ray at Pharmacogenomics Reporter.
23andMe’s sample swap follows close on the heels of the FDA announcing an investigation into Pathway Genomics and Congress launching an even broader investigation of the three leading DTC genetic testing providers. Not surprisingly, many commentators have pointed to 23andMe’s mix-up as just the latest example of the dangers of DTC genetic testing and further evidence of the need for greater federal regulatory scrutiny.
There are a number of reasons why DTC genetic testing may soon find itself subject to increased federal regulatory oversight. However, 23andMe’s widely publicized data error should not be one of those reasons. In fact, the sample swap, while unfortunately timed, actually presents a compelling argument in favor of the direct-to-consumer model for genetic testing.
Transparency First: A Proposal for DTC Genetic Testing Regulation
These are hectic days for the field of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing. Every week, and sometimes every day, seems to bring a new development. Two weeks ago it was pharmacy giants Walgreens and CVS unveiling agreements with Pathway Genomics to offer Pathway’s genetic testing kits in drugstores nationwide, to which the FDA responded first by declaring such a strategy illegal and, shortly thereafter, launching an investigation. Last week, on the same day that the University of California, Berkeley announced it would be offering genetic tests to all incoming freshmen, a House of Representatives committee announced it was launching its own investigation into three prominent DTC genetic testing companies.
These developments reflect an uncertainty about the regulatory status of DTC genetic testing that is dramatic, although it is not new. In the summer of 2008, public health officials in New York and California sent warning letters to a number of DTC companies, including 23andMe and Navigenics (both targets of the current Congressional investigation). These state regulatory activities prompted concern that other states might follow suit, potentially subjecting DTC companies to the nightmare scenario of inconsistent state-by-state regulation. Nearly two years later, those particular concerns appear to be unfounded.
Breaking: Congress to Investigate DTC Genetic Testing
The United States House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce today launched an investigation into direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing, sending letters to three prominent DTC companies: 23andMe, Pathway Genomics and Navigenics. Here is the announcement from the Committee:
Today Chairman Henry A. Waxman, Ranking Member Joe Barton, Subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Michael C. Burgess sent letters to 23andMe, Inc., Navigenics, and Pathway Genomics Corporation in light of recent reports that at least one of the companies is seeking to sell personal genetic testing kits in retail locations, despite concern from the scientific community regarding the accuracy of test results.
The Committee is requesting information from the companies on several aspects of the tests: How the companies analyze test results to determine consumers’ risk for any conditions, diseases, drug responses, and adverse reactions; the ability of the companies’ genetic testing products to accurately identify any genetic risks; and the companies’ policies for the collection, storage, and processing of individual genetic samples collected from consumers.
