• where experts go to learn about FDA
  • Allyson B. Mullen

    • Potential Major Changes in Updated Draft Pre-Sub GuidanceJune 24th, 2018

      By far one of CDRH’s greatest recent successes has been the Pre-Submission program. In our experience, more companies have been engaging early and often with the Agency to discuss product-related regulatory issues and questions. Under the Food and Drug Administration Reauthorization Act and the MDUFA …

    • FDA Finalizes 510(k) Exemptions for Certain Class II DevicesJune 12th, 2018

      On June 5, 2018, FDA published a notice in the federal register finalizing the 510(k) exemption for several devices. The proposed list for 510(k) exemption was published last November and included two new devices that had been granted marketing authorization through the de novo process …

    • CDRH Issues Draft Guidance Regarding Test Reports for Nonclinical Bench Studies in Premarket SubmissionsJune 7th, 2018

      On May 31, 2018, CDRH issued the draft guidance, “Recommended Content and Format of Complete Test Reports for Non-Clinical Bench Performance Testing in Premarket Submissions.” The draft guidance is intended to provide an outline of the type of information to be included in non-clinical bench …

    • A Tale of Two Guidances: FDA Issues Final Next Generation Sequencing GuidancesApril 29th, 2018

      On April 13, 2018, FDA issued the final guidance documents “Considerations for Design, Development, and Analytical Validation of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) – Based In Vitro Diagnostics (IVDs) Intended to Aid in the Diagnosis of Suspected Germline Diseases” (hereinafter the NGS Guidance, available here) and …

    • FDA Issues Guidance Regarding Obtaining Risk Determinations for Investigational IVDs in Oncology TrialsApril 24th, 2018

      On April 12, 2018, the three FDA Centers jointly issued the draft guidance, “Investigational In Vitro Diagnostics in Oncology Trials: Streamlined Submission Process for Study Risk Determination” (draft available here). The draft guidance outlines a process for obtaining FDA’s feedback regarding whether an investigational IVD …

    • New RTA Policy Has Implications for Combination ProductsApril 3rd, 2018

      On January 30, 2018, FDA issued revised guidance documents: Refuse to Accept Policy for 510(k)s and PMAs (here and here). These revised guidances may have gone unnoticed by many as there was no federal register notice announcing or discussing the revisions from the policy in …

    • FDA Issues Draft Guidance for Preparing a Pre-Request for DesignationFebruary 22nd, 2018

      On February 15, FDA’s Office of Combination Products (OCP) announced the draft guidance, “How to Prepare a Pre-Request for Designation (Pre-RFD).” Don’t let the name fool you though.  Unlike the similarly named Pre-Submission, a Pre-RFD does not need to precede a formal RFD.  A Pre-RFD …

    • CDRH Publishes Metrics for Third-Party 510(k) ReviewsFebruary 7th, 2018

      The third-party 510(k) review process was an emphasis in the most recent user fee negotiations and statutory changes under the FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017 (FDARA). This process has been criticized in the past for being restrictive, ineffective, and not beneficial for applicants.  On January …

    • Nothing Appealing in Proposed Device Appeal Regulations: They are Identical to Existing GuidanceJanuary 26th, 2018

      The title of this blog post should tell you everything you need to know about the proposed appeal regulations announced last week by CDRH (found here). On January 17, CDRH proposed regulations specific to the device appeal process for both 517A decisions as well as …

    • CDRH Issues Revised Replacement Reagent PolicyJanuary 25th, 2018

      A week before Christmas, CDRH issued a revised draft of the Replacement Reagent policy. When finalized, the revised draft guidance will replace the 2003 final guidance. According to FDA, the revised guidance “is intended to update and provide clarity on” the existing policy. FDA has …

    • CDRH Issues Revised Draft Accessory GuidanceJanuary 16th, 2018

      On December 20, FDA issued a new, draft guidance, “Medical Device Accessories – Describing Accessories and Classification Pathways.”  This guidance is the latest chapter in the years-long, and still on-going, story of accessory classification. As you may recall, Congress and FDA have both been working …

    • While You Were Away: CDRH Announces Pilot Voluntary Quality Compliance ProgramJanuary 11th, 2018

      While many were on vacation and preparing to celebrate the New Year, CDRH was announcing yet another pilot program. You may recall FDA recently announced its Digital Health Software Pre-Cert Pilot Program and its Premarket Approval Application Critical to Quality Pilot Program.  The latest pilot …

    • CDRH Issues New Draft Least Burdensome GuidanceJanuary 10th, 2018

      Section 513 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requires FDA to consider the least burdensome means of evaluating device safety and effectiveness for Class III devices and substantial equivalence for devices requiring 510(k) clearance. Despite this legal requirement, the device industry’s position has …

    • FDA Issues Final Guidance on Additive Manufactured (“3D-Printed”) DevicesJanuary 3rd, 2018

      On December 5, 2017, FDA issued a final guidance: Technical Considerations for Additive Manufactured Medical Devices, Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff. Additive Manufacturing (AM) is “a process that builds an object by iteratively building 2-dimensional (2D) layers and joining each to …

    • Are There Only Two Types of Tests in Clinical Studies – Legally Marketed or Investigational? Maybe, according to FDA’s Draft Guidance for Investigational IVDsDecember 26th, 2017

      On December 18, FDA released its draft guidance, “Investigational IVDs Used in Clinical Investigations of Therapeutic Products.” This is the latest guidance from the Agency on the relationship between in vitro diagnostic (IVD) products and therapeutic products. You will recall that the Centers jointly issued the …