At its annual investor day at the American Society for Radiation Oncology meeting in San Diego, Accuray Inc. reported that its Tomo C radiation therapy system obtained approval from the Chinese National Medical Products Administration for the country’s type B market. The system will be made in China through the company’s joint venture, CNNC Accuray (Tianjin) Medical Technology Co. Ltd.
China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has largely completed its development of overarching regulations for medical devices and is now drilling down into more granular matter, such as a guidance on assessments of benefits and risks for medical devices. Grace Fu Palma, CEO of China Med Device LLC, told BioWorld that this new guidance is a much more detailed version of the 2019 edition, but added that China’s anticorruption efforts will be ramped up with an eye toward health care, just one of several current and impending developments of interest in this massive market.
China’s recovery from its zero-COVID policy has failed to gain the momentum expected, with many experts predicting a slow or even negative growth rate. A slower economy, combined with a push toward self-reliance, bodes poorly for diagnostics manufacturers in the U.S. who may find themselves not just shut out of the huge market but facing stiffer competition around the globe. Further, policies designed to build a domestic next-generation sequencing industry have created headwinds for San Diego-based Illumina Inc. and others, noted Kyle Mikson and Alex Vukasin of Canaccord Genuity in an in-depth report.
Magassist Co. Ltd. has been granted a breakthrough device designation by the U.S. FDA for its interventional ventricular assist device (VAD), which is expected to accelerate the development and approval of the product.
Two new sets of draft guidelines in China aim to strengthen and streamline registration systems while clearly spelling out additional rules for device makers to ensure quality management and controls, including strengthening controls over any outsourced manufacturing and calling of makers of implantable devices to manufacture in house.
Brainaurora Medical Technology Ltd. has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong to develop its digital therapeutics for the treatment of cognitive impairment diseases. The company claims to be the first in China to launch a digital therapeutics (DTx) product for cognitive impairment, as well as the largest company in China in terms of revenue from the commercialization of cognitive impairment DTx products in 2022.
Broncus Holding Corp. successfully completed a clinical study of the world’s first transbronchial radiofrequency ablation system for lung cancer treatment.
Peijia Medical Co. Ltd. reported the implant of its Taurustrio transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) system in a first patient as part of a multi-center trial getting one step closer to launching the first TAVR system for aortic regurgitation (AR) in China.
Laboratory for Advanced Medicine & Health Group (LAMH)’s subsidiary Guangzhou Youze Biotechnology Co. Ltd. received marketing approval in China for its methylation test, which the company says is the first methylation test kit for liver cancer on the market in the world.
Genesis Medtech Group received marketing approval from China’s National Medical Products Administration for its laparoscopic surgical device called Artisential, which helps surgeons in precision surgery. The approval not only adds another market in which the device is available but will allow Genesis to expand its reach in China.