Title 21 › CHAPTER 9 — FEDERAL FOOD, DRUG, AND COSMETIC ACT › SUBCHAPTER V — DRUGS AND DEVICES › Part E — General Provisions Relating to Drugs and Devices › § 360bbb–0a
Allows patients with life‑threatening illnesses who have no approved options and who cannot join a clinical trial to try certain experimental drugs. To qualify, a doctor must say the patient has a life‑threatening condition, has tried all approved treatments, and cannot enter a trial. The doctor must be in good standing and not paid by the drug maker to give that opinion. The patient (or a legal representative) must give written informed consent. The drug must have finished a Phase 1 trial, not be approved for any use, be still in development (not abandoned or on clinical hold), and either have a formal approval application filed or be in a trial meant to be the main proof for approval and have an active IND. "Phase 1" means the early safety trial. If these rules are met, giving the drug under this path is exempt from many usual FDA rules, but the sponsor must still follow certain investigational drug requirements (for example, regulations at 21 C.F.R. 312.6, 312.7, and 312.8(d)(1)). The FDA generally may not use health outcomes from these uses to delay or hurt the drug’s approval unless the FDA’s center director finds the outcome is critical to safety and gives a written public‑health reason, or unless the sponsor asks the FDA to use those outcomes. The drug sponsor must send the FDA an annual summary showing doses supplied, patients treated, why the drug was used, and any known serious harms. The FDA will post an annual report on its website about how outcomes were or were not used in reviews.
Full Legal Text
Food and Drugs, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
21 U.S.C. § 360bbb–0a
Title 21, Food and Drugs
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110