The U.S. FDA recently convened an advisory hearing to discuss whether three in vitro diagnostics should be reclassified from class III to class II, including tests for the pathogens responsible for Hepatitis B and tuberculosis. The panel agreed that all three of the test types should be reshuffled to the lower-risk class II category, suggesting that test developers now have an opportunity to jump into a market with lower-cost tests that won’t need expensive and drawn-out clinical studies to obtain the FDA’s seal of approval.
Femasys Inc. received U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance for Femaseed, an infertility treatment that delivers sperm directly to the fallopian tubes. Less invasive and more straightforward than in vitro fertilization, the procedure offers what the company said is a new and more affordable alternative to family building for couples encountering fertility issues.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 covered a lot of budget terrain for the U.S. federal government, but Section 3305 was unusual for this type of bill in that it called on the FDA to require cybersecurity features as a part of the Quality System Regulation (QSR).
Safety concerns overrode benefit when the U.S. FDA’s Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee (EMDAC) voted unanimously, 19-0, Sept. 21 that the potential risks of Intarcia Therapeutics’ ITCA-650 outweighed the compliance and A1C-lowering benefits the twice-yearly implantable exenatide-device combination product could provide for adults with type 2 diabetes.
The U.S. FDA is going straight to final guidance with its “Considerations for the conduct of clinical trials of medical products during major disruptions due to disasters and public health emergencies [PHEs].”
The U.S. FDA is going straight to final guidance with its “Considerations for the conduct of clinical trials of medical products during major disruptions due to disasters and public health emergencies [PHEs].”
The U.S. FDA is still sorting through the feedback for its proposal to modestly align the Quality System Regulation with ISO 13485, but the agency has posted a draft four-year plan for regulatory harmonization that is substantially broader in scope than just quality management system considerations. While this proposal addresses a significant need for device makers working in multiple markets, the objectives include an assessment of at least nine non-FDA harmonization proposals by the end of fiscal year 2025, a clear indicator that harmonization will continue to be every bit the slog it has proven to be in recent years.
A Sept. 21 U.S. FDA advisory committee meeting will either be a “Hail Mary” or a last gasp of life for ITCA-650, a twice-yearly implantable exenatide-device combination product intended to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes.
Developers of combination products face an unusual dilemma in their interactions with the U.S. FDA, given that the data for the constituent products reside in multiple product centers. Some of the related clunkiness may soon be a thing of the past thanks to a new four-year proposal to overhaul the FDA’s information technology infrastructure, which among other things will emphasize a more seamless sharing of data across centers, precisely the kind of initiative that would facilitate reviews of combination products.
The U.S. FDA has broken out of the summer guidance doldrums in fine form, inking a series of nine draft and final guidances in the first half of September alone. The latest bolus includes a revised version of a guidance for the breakthrough devices program and two draft guidances for devices for weight loss, giving industry plenty to mull over as the final days of fiscal year 2023 trickle away.
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