The EU’s Medical Device Coordination Group (MDCG) has advised the device industry that many manufacturers seem ill prepared for the transition to the Medical Device Regulation (MDR), which will be fully in force for all devices as of May 2024. MDCG said that that any leniency shown after that date will be granted only for devices that address an urgent public health need, potentially leaving many existing authorizations out in the cold.
The mutual recognition agreement between Switzerland and the EU for medical devices lapsed in 2021, a development that was expected to add a significant amount of drag on Swiss device exports to EU nations.
The U.S. FDA’s pre-certification (pre-cert) program for software as a medical device (SaMD) seemed to run out of steam before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, but the FDA was always presumed to need help from Congress to roll out a permanent version. A session at this year’s MedCon suggests that there is still life left in the pilot version of the SaMD pre-cert program, a critical development given that the legislation for the device user fee program offers the FDA no new statutory authority for a novel software regulatory framework.
The European Commission posted a draft legislative framework for regulation of artificial intelligence, a document that spans all potential uses of such algorithms rather than just medical ones.
The European Commission posted a draft legislative framework for regulation of artificial intelligence (AI), a document that spans all potential uses of such algorithms rather than just medical ones. The text seems to suggest that all medical uses of AI will be deemed high-risk uses, but this draft is just the opening salvo in a process that will span a year, perhaps longer, before the legislation will be drafted and finalized.
According to the Swiss association for medical technology companies, Swiss Medtech, introducing the new European regulations for medical devices (MDR) and in vitro diagnostics (IVDR) is going to have serious consequences for the sector in Switzerland. This Swiss trade association has just published its biannual survey as part of the 2020 sector study on the Swiss medical technology industry (SMTI).
LONDON – The European Parliament gave its full backing to the emergency measure to delay the Medical Device Regulation (MDR), voting by 693 to 1 in favor of postponing implementation from May 26 this year, to May 26, 2021. The delay will “allow health authorities and manufacturers alike to prioritize the fight against the coronavirus pandemic” by keeping existing procedures in place, the parliament said in a statement.
LONDON – The European Commission (EU) is pulling the plug on implementation of the Medical Devices Directive (MDR) on May 26, to free up resources and expertise as countries across Europe struggle to deal with the COVID-19 crisis.
PERTH, Australia – Six classes of medical devices listed on Australia’s Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) will fall under new classification requirements on Aug. 25, 2020, following numerous consultations with industry. The consultations were part of the Australian government’s plans to overhaul its medical device regulations to be more in line with the European Medical Device Regulation (MDR).
LONDON – The European Commission has published new guidelines on cybersecurity for medical devices, putting flesh on the bones of the requirements in the Medical Device Regulation (MDR) that comes into force in May.
