Balloon catheters are in abundant use across the human vasculature. Thus, the January U.S. FDA draft guidance for angioplasty and specialty catheters captured a range of critical devices. However, Stephen Ferguson, of Bloomington, Ind.-based Cook Group Inc., cited several problems he saw with the draft, including that one of the specifications for balloon fatigue testing exceeds the level spelled out in an international standard adopted by the FDA.
Medical devices are known to be iterative, but so are FDA guidances, and the 2018 draft guidance for third-party review of 510(k) applications was the second such document in two years. The 2020 final guidance made another adjustment or two based on feedback from industry, including a specific note that the intent of the guidance is to eliminate any need for routine FDA re-review of 510(k)s reviewed by third parties.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Thursday extended the public on-ramp for small companies that take longer than five years to generate $100 million in annual revenue, as well as some of the business development companies that invest in them.
LONDON – The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic, but is pushing back strongly against countries giving up on stringent control measures.