In a jaw-dropping move, HHS announced today that, effective immediately, FDA will no longer require premarket review of laboratory developed tests (LDTs)—including LDTs to detect the virus that causes COVID-19—absent notice and comment rulemaking. HHS is rescinding all guidance documents and informal statements of policy concerning …
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 …
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 …
CDRH has made commitments to stakeholders about completing reviews in a timely manner. For the fiscal year (FY) 2019, though, FDA acknowledged that it missed review-time goals for evaluating product recalls and Medical Device Reports (MDRs). FDA reviewed and classified recalls in a timely fashion …
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 …
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 …
Since FDA announced in late 2016 that it would not finalize its laboratory developed test (LDT) guidances, it has become clear that any change to the LDT regulatory framework (at least during this administration) would need to come through a statutory change. The first such …
On December 18, 2018, FDA published in the Federal Register a new docket entitled, “Notice of Intent to Consider the Appropriate Classification of Hyaluronic Acid Intra-articular Products Intended for the Treatment of Pain in Osteoarthritis of the Knee Based on Scientific Evidence.” This document is quite …
The 510(k) pathway was first established in the Medical Device Amendments of 1976, and amended in the Safe Medical Devices Act of 1990. Since that time, the statutory language creating this pathway has remained largely unchanged. Yet, the program has morphed from one in which …
On October 31, 2018, FDA announced that 23andMe could market its Personal Genome Service Pharmacogenetic Reports test (the “23andMe test”) as a direct-to-consumer test for providing information about genetic variants that may be associated with medication metabolism. The 23andMe test was reviewed using the de …
It’s been about two months since FDA issued its Technical Assistance (TA), and the buzz around FDA’s draft legislation has not died down. In fact, FDA has continued to promote the proposal, including a speech by Commissioner Gottlieb’s Chief of Staff, Lauren Silvas, in late …
Since 1992, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) efforts to regulate laboratory developed tests (LDTs) have been one of the most controversial device regulatory topics. We have written about this topic multiple times (see our list at the end of this post). The focus of many …
Following our blog post on the topic, in which we urged others to comment in response to FDA’s Proposed Product Jurisdiction rule changes, we decided to take our own advice. On July 15, 2018, Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C. filed comments to Docket No. FDA-2004-N-0191. Our …
On May 15th, FDA published in the Federal Register a proposal to amend the product jurisdiction regulation (21 C.F.R. Part 3). This proposal seeks to update, clarify, and streamline the product classification and designation process. However, the proposal fails to address some significant flaws in …
