Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Apellis, Astrazeneca, Iveric, Medincell, Moderna, Sanofi, Teva.
The U.S. FDA held a two-day advisory hearing in the last week of October 2022 to address some lingering regulatory questions, including the question of whether therapeutic nail prostheses should be a class I device. The potentially more dramatic shift, however, would be the application of a class III risk designation to tissue expanders used in breast surgery.
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Avita Medical, Neurosteer.
The U.S. CMS had the usual mix of good news and bad news in its hospital outpatient final rule for calendar year 2023, which served up a plate of bad news for Brainscope Inc. and Elucent Medical Inc., which will enjoy no new technology pass-through (NTPT) payments in the coming year for their applications. Conversely, Carlsmed Inc. and Microtransponder Inc. both came out of the annual NTPT scrum with wins, thus ensuring they’ll be able to more rapidly recapture their med tech investments.
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Accelus, Fresenius Medical Care, Grifols, Orasure Technologies, Prosomnus.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reported that it has arrived at a settlement of $45 million with Boca Raton, Fla.-based Modernizing Medicine Inc., an electronic health record (EHR) vendor that was accused of inducing referrals to a clinical lab for pathology services. The department stated that this settlement was the fourth such action against EHR vendors and is part of a concerted DOJ effort to “root out fraud” in the field, a signal that more enforcement against these companies is in the works.
The U.S. CMS has finalized the physician fee rule for calendar year 2023, a document that imposes an across-the-board pay cut of approximately 4.5% for physician Medicare services. However, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) blasted the final rule’s failure to provide what they believe are appropriate rates for cardiac ablation services, a position backed by two med-tech trade associations in their comments to the docket for the draft rule.
Broncus Holding Corp.’s disposable nebulizing microcatheter for an endoscope has been approved by China’s NMPA. The product Mist Fountain is the only nebulizing micro-catheter product available on the Chinese market to treat lung disease, according to the company.