Third-party testing of medical devices is an established practice, but some testing labs are more reliable than others. The U.S. FDA has warned device manufacturers that some of these labs are turning out falsified data in connection with such testing, calling out labs located in China and India as unusually suspect sources of testing data.
The U.S. FDA’s Accreditation Scheme for Conformity Assessment (ASCA) program is one of a number of efforts on the agency’s part to reduce the drag on premarket medical device submissions, but the agency has now converted the ASCA pilot into a full-blown regulatory program. Fortunately for both the FDA and industry, most of the guidance groundwork is already in place, making the ASCA program a ready-to-go method for streamlining at least one element of premarket applications for medical devices.
The latest global regulatory news, changes and updates affecting medical devices and technologies, including: FDA blasts thermographic sensor system marketers; WHO to tackle breast cancer globally; PhRMA urges Biden to stand by IP rights; FDA ASCA workshop announced.
The U.S. FDA’s Accreditation Scheme for Conformity Assessment (ASCA) program is intended to foster med-tech regulatory harmonization, but stakeholders saw a number of issues with the September 2019 ASCA draft guidance.
The FDA held a webinar directed toward the recent draft guidance for the accreditation scheme for conformity assessment (ASCA), but while independent labs figure to handle much of the related activity, FDA staff welcomed manufacturer's labs as well, emphasizing that the agency seeks the participation of all potentially interested parties.
The FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health has released yet another draft guidance dealing with medical device premarket programs with the release of a draft guidance for the accreditation scheme for conformity assessment. The draft frequently references independent standards for assessing device performance and safety, thus bringing regulatory harmonization one step closer to a practicable reality.