The U.S. FDA has granted Opticyte Inc. a breakthrough device designation for its Cell O2 patient monitor, a noninvasive technology for monitoring patients at risk of organ failure. The device could help to reduce serious illness and deaths by alerting clinicians to patients experiencing organ failure before irreversible damage occurs.
The European Commission (EC) has proposed to extend compliance deadlines under the Medical Device Regulation (MDR) to 2027 for high-risk devices and to 2028 for low- and moderate-risk devices, seemingly providing some critical breathing room for manufacturers and patients alike. However, the proposal requires that manufacturers have an application on file for their legacy device by May 2024, suggesting that manufacturers will still face a crippling backlog in obtaining contracts with notified bodies to process these applications.
Imperative Care Inc. received U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance for its Zoom Rdl radial access system for treatment of ischemic strokes. The device is designed to enhance radial access for removal of clots in patients with tortuous anatomy and other challenges to the femoral access typically used, providing more options for both patients and physicians.
Sonoscape Medical Corp. obtained marketing approval in China for its intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) diagnostic device and intravascular ultrasound diagnostic catheter.
The new year kicked off with good news from the U.S. FDA for Onconano Medicine Inc. The agency granted the company’s pH-sensitive fluorescent nanoprobe, pegsitacianine, breakthrough therapy designation for use as an adjunct for visualization of metastases in the peritoneal cavity.
The U.S. FDA has released the special controls needed for extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal thanks to the successful pursuit of a de novo petition by Pittsburgh-based Alung Technologies Inc., but generating the clinical data for successor 510(k) devices will be no mean feat. While some of the associated in vivo testing may be performed on animal models, the list is extensive and includes testing for hemodynamic instability and inadequate gas exchange, all reasons that Alung and the FDA needed the better part of a decade to bring this device to the U.S. market.
One of the big regulatory and pandemic stories of 2022 with global impact was the June 17 World Trade Organization’s (WTO) agreement on a five-year intellectual property (IP) waiver for COVID-19 vaccines and their components.
Chinese authorities this year for the first time allowed access for complete U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) audit inspections and investigations of PCAOB-registered public accounting firms headquartered in China and Hong Kong, in accordance with U.S. securities law.
The U.K. is mulling over whether to recognize U.S. FDA approvals of medical devices as part of moves to accelerate the implementation of its post-Brexit regulatory system.
Building on the U.S. FDA approval of its Proclaim Plus spinal cord stimulation (SCS) system in August, Abbott Laboratories notched another approval with the FDA’s greenlight of the Eterna spinal cord stimulation system.
