The FDA’s device center has long been at the task of reclassifying legacy devices that promise a moderate degree of risk, but successful de novo device applications also call for a class II listing. The agency recently posted five such risk classifications, including for a device developed by Edwards Lifesciences Corp., of Irvine, Calif.

Engineers at Atlanta-based Georgia Tech’s Center for 3D Medical Fabrication have developed a 3D-printed tracheal splint as an airway for children born with a rare condition known as tracheal agenesis or the absence of a trachea or windpipe.

The Biden administration has posted a request for information (RFI) about the conditions necessary for the in vitro diagnostic industry to sustain testing capacity for communicable disease outbreaks, although the letter commits to no specific actions. The Advanced Medical Technology Association responded to the RFI with the recommendation that the administration quickly commit to the provision of resources as a means of ensuring that “market volatility will no longer determine test availability.”

The FDA’s device center has been eyeing an overhaul of its Quality System Regulation (QSR) for several years, and the latest development is the scheduling of a March 2 advisory committee hearing to review the proposal. The default assumption is that the agency will post the draft rule prior to the hearing, although the routine two-day window for reviewing FDA meeting materials prior to an advisory hearing might leave stakeholders with insufficient time to examine the agency’s proposal.

As the Biden administration continues to play musical chairs with key U.S. federal health leadership positions, its latest move is naming Francis Collins to serve as science adviser to the president and co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology.

The selection of Robert Califf to run the U.S. FDA might seem like a safe move on the part of the White House, but some believe his prior experience at the FDA does not necessarily suggest an acceptance of the regulatory status quo. Peter Pitts, president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, told BioWorld that while Califf is “not a flashy pick,” Califf possesses a very keen understanding of the need to modernize the FDA’s practice of regulatory science, which should be a welcome bit of news for makers of drugs and devices.

Over the past few years, China has been quick to make promises to improve its regulatory and patent schemes for biopharmaceuticals and medical devices in keeping with its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments, but it’s been slow to fulfill those promises – at least in the eyes of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).

With an FDA 510(k) clearance now in hand, Cloudcath Inc. is planning a phased launch of its remote monitoring platform for peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. The company will make the system available on a limited basis in second half of 2022 “with broad U.S. availability increasing throughout 2023 and 2024,” Cloudcath CEO Aly ElBadry told BioWorld. The Cloudcath system continuously analyzes the dialysate fluid used in PD to detect early signs that a patient needs evaluation or intervention and then alerts both patients and clinicians.

The U.S. CMS has expanded the population of Medicare beneficiaries who are eligible for lung cancer screening via low-dose CT (LDCT) imaging. The news drew raves from stakeholders who also lauded the expansion of the facilities that can conduct the procedure, constituting a set of changes that advocates say will save thousands of additional lives.