The U.S. FDA’s latest draft guidance on discussions of off-label uses with doctors revisits a controversial subject that has previously migrated into the courts, and by some accounts, may do so yet again. In comments to the docket, the Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) argued that this latest attempt to regulate commercial speech is another example of the agency’s “flagrant disregard for drug and device manufacturers’ free speech rights,” which WLF seemed to suggest is an actionable violation of the First Amendment.
When life-saving inhalers sell in Europe at 1.5% to about 8% of their list price in the U.S., they’re bound to attract scrutiny, especially in a time when inequities in prescription drug prices are fueling more and more legislation to reduce U.S. prices.
The U.S. FDA granted breakthrough device designation to CG Bio Co. Ltd.’s spine implantation device, Novosis putty, making it the first bone substitute material developed in South Korea to gain the agency’s priority support. Novosis putty, successor to CG Bio’s first generation Novosis Ortho, combines a bone-forming protein called recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (rhBMP-2; Nebotermin) with ceramic scaffolds to accelerate bone growth.
The U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency finalized its plans for an overhaul of its med-tech regulatory system in a comprehensive approach that captures both in vitro diagnostics and artificial intelligence.
Medtronic plc received CE mark for its latest miniature, leadless pacemakers, the Micra AV2 and Micra VR2. According to the company, they are the world's smallest pacemakers, provide a longer battery life, and are easier to program than previous Micra pacemakers, while maintaining the benefits of their predecessors such as reduced complications compared to traditional pacemakers.
Switzerland’s regulatory authority for devices and drugs, Swissmedic, decided to revamp how it organizes its postmarket surveillance work, and is also seeking to stand up its medical product surveillance database.
The U.S. FDA might still be seen as the premier med tech regulatory entity in the world, but the agency is badly outnumbered by companies in the life sciences, which are pumping out artificial intelligence algorithms at a breathtaking pace. Further, the FDA must also avoid being lapped by industry in connection with the regulatory novelty known as the predetermined change control plan, a challenge that put the agency’s device center in scramble mode for essentially the entirety of calendar year 2023.
Are there other guidances the U.S. FDA should release as final without going through the draft and public comment process first? That’s one of the questions the FDA wants stakeholders to comment on as it updates its best practices for guidance.
An FDA culture that discourages scientific disagreement with U.S. administration policies may be a perennial problem regardless of the party in power. That’s one of the between-the-lines takeaways from a Jan. 3 letter the Republican leadership of the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf – along with a stern warning that the agency had better respond in a timely manner.
The U.S. FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health is no stranger to controversy, but the final guidance for clinical decision support (CDS) systems seems to have broken new ground in this regard.
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