On May 12, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the release of an update to its Purple Book: Database of FDA-Licensed Biological Products (Purple Book). The update adds all FDA-licensed biological products, including products approved in the new drug applications (NDAs) that were deemed to be licenses (transition biological products). This update also includes a new feature allowing users to download reports. Historical reports now include highlighted sections reflecting changes made in the previous month. This is the second phase of FDA’s Purple Book planned improvements.

As reported in B&C’s biobased products blog on February 28, 2020, FDA is working to expand the Purple Book by transitioning from its current table list format to a searchable online database for all approved biosimilar products and their reference products. The first phase of the upgrade included information about a product’s proprietary and proper names, the full product label, dosage form, route of administration, strength, and marketing status, among other information. Subsequent phases will include the expansion of the number of FDA-licensed biological products included in the Purple Book online database until the final release, which will include information about all FDA-licensed biological products.