Methodology inspired by publicly taught biotech catalyst frameworks; all text is an original paraphrase.
Defaults
| Parameter | Default Value | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| forward_window_quarters | 4 | Standard catalyst window; extend to 8 on request |
| include_superseded | false | Active-only events by default; supersede chains on request |
| exclusivity_tracking | true | Orange Book and 180-day exclusivity state attached to launch-relevant events |
| holiday_labeling | true | Holiday-shifted weeks flagged on every calendar row |
| horizon_days | 180 | Default for get_upcoming_pdufa horizon |
Preflight
Run canonical pre-flight per contracts/preflight.md. Include the X-Agentii-Trace header on every tool call per contracts/x-agentii-trace-header.md — carry the _run_id from your first tool result and name yourself (and your parent, if you were spawned). Confirm ticker resolution via search_companies before catalyst queries.
Triggers
- "When is the PDUFA date for [drug/ticker]?"
- "What AdCom meetings are coming up for [ticker]?"
- "Has [drug]'s sNDA/sBLA label expansion been approved?"
- "Which biosimilars have interchangeability designation, and when does 180-day exclusivity run?"
- "What is [drug]'s Orange Book patent and exclusivity state?"
- "How is [ticker]'s CRL remediation timeline shaping up?"
- "Build a PDUFA/AdCom calendar for my pharma watchlist."
- "Evaluate the approval odds for [drug] ahead of its AdCom."
- "What label expansions are pending for [ticker] this year?"
- "Which medicine decisions land this quarter?"
- "How do biosimilar launches erode the reference product's share?"
- "Which catalysts overlap with [ticker]'s earnings date?"
Production Grounding
- CDER mechanics: NDA/BLA review tracks, PDUFA target dates, priority review, breakthrough designation, accelerated approval, CRL deficiency classes and the remediation reset, AdCom vote patterns.
- Label expansions (sNDA/sBLA) are the commercial catalysts beyond first approval; Orange Book patent and exclusivity state sets the generic or biosimilar entry window.
- Biosimilar timeline note: interchangeability plus 180-day exclusivity for the first interchangeable delays competing entry — and approval is not launch; commercial timing follows exclusivity expiry and patent-settlement terms.
- Holiday-week labeling discipline: comps across holiday-shifted weeks are noisy; every calendar row carries its caveat, and holiday weeks are labeled explicitly.
- Apply AdCom-style scrutiny axes when framing outcome odds; never fabricate dates, votes, or outcomes — annotate coverage gaps instead (per
references/knowledge-frameworks.md).
Data Source Priority
- Structured catalyst data:
get_upcoming_pdufa/get_pdufa_decision(pipeline.fda_calendar_event). - AdCom and approval history:
search_adcom_meetings/get_adcom_meeting;search_fda_approvals/get_fda_approval. - Company and filing context:
get_company_profile,search_documents,search_sec_filings; briefing docs vialist_sources(source_type=adcom_briefing)+read_source_outline/read_source_pageswith meeting slugs. - Historical grounding:
search_investment_cases(event_type=adcom_vote/pdufa_decision/crl/approval),search_by_analogue,search_investment_strategies(sectors=med). - Earnings overlap:
search_earnings_calendar/list_upcoming_earnings.
Methodology
Retrieval Scope
unstructured_document_search
Retrieval Strategy
- Resolve ticker(s) via
search_companies; note primary drug/application names. - Pull active PDUFA events (
get_upcoming_pdufa, horizon_days=default); layer AdCom meetings and earnings dates. - Per event: decision history (
get_pdufa_decisionby drug/application), approval record (get_fda_approval), label and Orange Book state. - For AdCom events, retrieve briefing documents via
list_sources+read_source_outline/read_source_pagesusing meeting slugs; apply scrutiny axes. - Ground the play in knowledge:
search_investment_cases/search_by_analoguewith med filters; cite /v/ records.
Temporal Scope
See frontmatter temporal_scope block. Exclusivity windows may require looking back up to 8 quarters when requested.
Tool Allowlist
See frontmatter allowed_tools.
Protocol
- Ticker resolution
- Catalyst enumeration (PDUFA / AdCom / label expansion / exclusivity events)
- Per-event outcome framing (scrutiny axes + decision history)
- Historical analogue retrieval
- Calendar synthesis + exclusivity and risk flags
Modes
- Watchlist (default, multi-ticker): one dated calendar with per-ticker sections, sorted by date.
- Single ticker deep-dive: full event timeline, per-event probability framing, label and exclusivity state.
- Event type: restrict to PDUFA / AdCom / label expansion / biosimilar milestones on request.
- Exclusivity scan: Orange Book and 180-day windows as the launch-timing lens.
Tool Fallbacks
| Failure | Fallback |
|---|---|
| get_upcoming_pdufa empty | Search filings (search_documents keyword PDUFA) + search_sec_filings 8-Ks; annotate coverage_gap |
| AdCom briefing path 404 | search_documents with source_institution filter; degrade to calendar metadata |
| Knowledge tools empty | Proceed with structured data only; annotate knowledge coverage_gap |
| Orange Book state unknown | Flag exclusivity window unavailable; never infer expiry dates |
Output File
{ticker}/{YYYY-MM-DD_HHMM}_fda-catalyst-medicines_{affix}.md (watchlist: watchlist/{YYYY-MM-DD_HHMM}_fda-catalyst-medicines-calendar_{affix}.md)
Output Structure
- Executive Summary — highest-impact CDER-track catalysts in the window, 2-3 sentences
- Catalyst Calendar — dated table: date, ticker, event type, drug, application, holiday-week flag, expected-impact framing
- Per-Event Analysis — scrutiny-axes assessment (safety/statistics/subgroups/benefit-risk) + decision history
- Label & Exclusivity State — sNDA/sBLA status, Orange Book state, 180-day windows, biosimilar entry timing
- Historical Analogues — matched cases with /v/ citations and quantified outcomes
- Risk Assessment & Coverage Gaps — binary-risk sizing, overlap clusters, unverified or missing data
Error Handling
| Error | Fallback |
|---|---|
| No PDUFA rows | Fall back to earnings + AdCom + label events; annotate coverage_gap — never fabricate dates |
| Superseded dates | Active-only by default; expose supersede chain via include_superseded=true |
| Ticker not in med universe | Resolve via CIK/drug-universe match; surface the classification gap |
Memory Load
See contracts/memory-load.md.
Snapshot
See contracts/snapshot-synthesis.md.
Final Summary (TUI)
Include ### Key Citations block with 0-10 clickable /v/ URLs.
References
contracts/citation-and-memory.mdcontracts/output-frontmatter-schema.mdcontracts/memory-load.mdcontracts/snapshot-synthesis.mdcontracts/preflight.mdreferences/knowledge-frameworks.md


