On August 6, 2021, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) announced the release of a revised PhRMA Code on Interactions with Health Care Professionals, which takes effect on January 1, 2022. The PhRMA Code is a voluntary code of conduct focusing on the …
On June 18th, FDA published a draft guidance document titled Remanufacturing of Medical Devices, which has been several years in the making. The draft guidance distinguishes between “remanufacturing” and “servicing” of devices. This distinction can be critical, due to the significantly increased regulatory requirements that …
On April 28, FDA issued its first Notice of Noncompliance for failure to submit required clinical trial results information to ClinicalTrials.gov. The notice was given to Acceleron Pharma, Inc., for failure to submit the required information following completion of a clinical trial evaluating the safety …
The 21st Century Cures Act (“Cures Act”), which was enacted in 2016 (see our blog post here), excluded from the statutory definition of “device” five categories of software: Software for administrative support of a health care facility; Software for maintaining or encouraging a healthy lifestyle and is …
On April 2, 2021, the Ninth Circuit issued a decision in a False Claims Act (FCA) case against Medtronic. The Dan Abrams Co. LLC v. Medtronic Inc., No. 19-56377, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 9637 (9th Cir. Apr. 2, 2021). Relator appealed the U.S. District Court …
On November 20, 2020, the Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP) hosted a webinar to announce a new process for review of “core launch” promotional materials. Specifically, OPDP has added a five business day screening period to the beginning of core launch review to ensure …
From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, access to accurate and reliable testing to identify patients exposed to SARS-CoV-2 or infected with COVID-19 was identified as a critical element of an effective public health response. Testing is needed to diagnose individuals with active symptoms, enable …
During the COVID-19 pandemic, there is widespread agreement that one of the most important steps the government can take is to enable widespread testing of patients. Many experts have cited the lack of access to a sufficient number of tests as a fundamental flaw in …
FDA is exercising significant emergency authorities during the COVID‑19 pandemic. Not all of industry is affected, but those who are manufacturing or distributing (or using) devices being used to fight the pandemic can benefit by understanding FDA’s emergency‑related policies and practices. These are evolving every …
Last week, FDA once again changed course in its approach towards regulating pharmacogenomic (PGx) tests. We have blogged on this story several times before (see past blog posts here and here). A brief recap follows. On October 31, 2018, FDA issued a Safety Communication regarding PGx …
Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, FDA is authorized to hold advisory panel meetings for premarket approval applications (PMAs). While FDA originally had to hold a panel meeting for all PMAs pursuant to the Medical Device Amendments of 1976, Congress liberalized the law …
Over the years, we have blogged many times on FDA’s approach towards laboratory-developed tests (LDTs) (see, e.g., prior posts here, here, here, here, and here). On October 31, 2018, FDA issued a Safety Communication relating to one particular type of LDT: pharmacogenomic (PGx) assays. On …
In October, FDA issued a draft guidance titled “Postmarketing Studies and Clinical Trials—Implementation of Section 505(o)(3) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act,” which will replace a similar April 2011 draft guidance once finalized. This new draft guidance reflects a significant expansion of FDA’s …
In the Federal Register of Thursday, October 17, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) both published substantial amendments to the regulations implementing the Medicare physician self-referral law (commonly referred …
FDA advisory panel meetings to review pre-market applications (PMAs) are high-stakes events. While FDA is not bound by the vote of the advisory panel, it has been long-accepted that the agency typically follows the recommendation of the panel. Which got us thinking: are conventional wisdom and …
