Early Developments in the Regulation of Biologics.

ABSTRACT

This article is a history of the policy positions and legal interpretations adopted by the Public Health Service (PHS) under the 1902 Biologics Control Act. PHS generally interpreted the scope of the Act narrowly because it lacked authority to deny marketing licenses for ineffective biologics and wanted to minimize the number of worthless drugs with the imprimatur of a governmental license. In addition, PHS implemented important regulatory strategies not expressly authorized by the Act.