PERTH, Australia – The FDA granted Oncores Medical Pty. Ltd. breakthrough device designation for its quantitative micro-elastography (QME) imaging system. The hand-held imaging tool helps surgeons differentiate between cancerous and healthy tissue in real time at the point of surgery, and it could substantially improve outcomes in breast-conserving surgery (BCS) and reduce repeat operations for women with breast cancer.
The FDA’s presenters at this year’s joint FDA/Xavier med-tech conference presented on a range of issues, such as the breakthrough devices premarket program and the agency’s postmarket surveillance efforts. However, the two FDA presenters both remarked that these functional areas are hampered by lack of resources, suggesting the agency has a unified message about resources that permeates negotiations for the next device user fee agreement.
HONG KONG – The Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MoH) has published a draft decree intended to refine the legal framework for regulating medical devices in the country. Released under the title Official Dispatch No. 2271/BYT-TB-CT, the draft document consolidates the amendments made to the current decree and introduces new sections addressing clinical trials, the Essential Principles for Safety and Efficiency of Medical Devices, and advertising.
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Bigfoot Biomedical, Conformis, Edge Surgical, Inova Diagnostics, Ortho Development, Orthofix, Think Surgical.
Biopharma companies need to provide unredacted access to both positive and negative clinical data for all new drugs and vaccines, whether the drugs have been rejected, authorized for emergency use, or granted full or conditional approval, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and international regulators. “The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus the need for improved transparency of medical research,” said EMA Executive Director Emer Cooke, who also chairs the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA).
Despite the demonstrated benefits of using patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in clinical trials assessing new cancer drugs in adults, PROs are rarely used in pediatric cancer trials. Hoping to change that, the FDA is convening the pediatric subcommittee of its Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) May 11 to discuss how to effectively use a pediatric form of the PRO version of the common terminology criteria for adverse events.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Amgen, Ampio, Astrazeneca, Biocorrx, Eagle, Kyowa Kirin, Liquidia, Merck, Mustang, Pfizer, Smart.
The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on inspections of drug and device manufacturing sites is a matter of record, but the agency says it is on track to resume inspections for high-risk considerations. However, the FDA also said it will likely make more extensive use of virtual inspection tools going forward, a development that may ease some of the operational interruptions engendered by conventional on-site inspections.
HONG KONG – The revisions for China’s Regulations for Supervision and Administration of Medical Devices, which promise harsher penalties and post-market enforcements, will come into effect on June 1, 2021. The revisions see authorities take a more progressive and aggressive approach to the regulatory enforcement of medical device products in China.