The FDA town hall on the final day of the 2023 edition of the Med Tech Conference included the usual patter about the achievements at the agency’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), but a few useful nuggets of information nonetheless slipped through in this year’s session. CDRH director Jeff Shuren acknowledged that the agency is steering device advisory committee hearings away from votes on whether to approve a product, an approach he said is under consideration at the agency’s other product centers as well.
AOA Dx Inc. closed an oversubscribed $17 million seed round to expand the clinical trial for its ovarian cancer diagnostic test, build out new lab facilities and explore applications of its Glycolocate platform in other cancers. The platform uses tumor marker gangliosides to enable early cancer. A recent study demonstrated that the test had more than 90% sensitivity and specificity for ovarian cancer detection across all stages.
Responding to the burgeoning field of digital health, the U.S. FDA reported the creation of a new Digital Health Advisory Committee that it expects to be up and running in 2024.
Aurimod GmbH’s CEO, Stefan Kampusch, reported filing patent protection for a device for auricular punctual stimulation and the treatment of pain that comprises a current generator for generating stimulation current pulses and electrical lines for connection to an electrode to be positioned on the ear.
Med-tech happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Adaptivendo, AI Medical Service, Cryoport, Endosound, GE Healthcare, T2 Biosystems.
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Medtronic, Neoss, Orthofix Medical, Sentiar.
Concerns over the EU’s agonizingly clunky roll-out of the Medical Device Regulation (MDR) has largely focused on the capacity of notified bodies to manage the task of recertifying CE marks for legacy devices, but a new problem has emerged that promises to add yet more drag to the process. Amie Smirthwaite, senior vice president for innovation at RQM+, said EU member states’ competent authorities seem bent on pressing notified bodies (NBs) to treat guidance by the Medical Device Coordination Group (MDCG) as regulation, with the net result that “you almost need guidance for the guidance” in order to successfully navigate the EU market.