The U.S. has granted final approval to Microvention Inc., a subsidiary of Terumo Corp. based in Aliso Viejo, Calif., for its Flow Redirection Endoluminal Device (FRED) for the treatment of brain aneurysms. The flow diverter – Microvention’s third PMA approval in less than two years – is the first in the U.S. to utilize a self-expanding, braided nitinol mesh to aid in rerouting blood flow away from the weakened area and promote occlusion.
Jenavalve Technology Inc., of Irvine, Calif., has won an FDA breakthrough device designation for its namesake transcatheter aortic valve replacement device, but Jenavalve said it will file for a humanitarian device exemption in the second half of 2020, suggesting that the device won’t be commercially available for at least another year.
LAS VEGAS – The U.S. FDA has said it is looking to help those interested in developing digital health tools, and that commitment took center stage this week during the Digital Health Summit, part of CES 2020. Amy Abernethy, principal deputy commissioner at the FDA, gave an overview of the agency’s thinking on the topic, providing the perspective of someone who came from outside the regulatory world.
Caesarea, Israel-based Icecure Medical Ltd. has won the FDA’s nod for additional indications for its cryoablation technology, paving the way for use in kidney, liver, ear, nose and throat and new neurology indications. The agency also cleared Icecure’s new Multisense system.
Ear infections are a common occurrence in kids, causing pain, fever and, in worst cases, hearing loss. Yet up to half of all cases are misdiagnosed, due to doctors’ inability to look deep into the middle ear where infections reside. Now, the U.S. FDA has cleared the Tomi Scope, a first-in-class technology from Photonicare Inc., of Champaign, Ill., that allows doctors to not only detect the presence or absence of fluid in the middle ear but characterize the type of fluid they see.
Neovasc Inc., of Richmond, British Columbia, has submitted a premarket approval application to the U.S. FDA for its Neovasc Reducer. The minimally invasive stent, which was granted breakthrough status in October 2018, is used to treat refractory angina.
The FDA's revised draft guidance for clinical decision support (CDS) systems was intended to fix several glaring holes in the first draft, but multiple stakeholders argued that the second draft contradicts the related provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act when it comes to CDS systems that purport to drive or guide clinical decision making.
HONG KONG – South Korea’s Medical IP Co. Ltd., an artificial intelligence (AI)-based medical 3D printing and software company, has won the FDA’s nod for its medical imaging analysis solution Medical Image Processing (Medip).
A mere 26 months after the first patient was enrolled in its pivotal phase II study and about three months ahead of its PDUFA date, the FDA granted accelerated approval for Padcev (enfortumab vedotin-ejfv) to treat adults with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer.
The U.S. FDA’s attempt to use objective performance criteria for class II devices offers several advantages for device makers. However, the Advanced Medical Technology Association (Advamed) said in comments to the docket for two such sub-guidances that the documents are too narrowly scoped to be of much use in many instances.