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  • In Vitro Diagnostic Devices

    • Regulation of Laboratory Developed Tests by FDA: Time for the Agency to Cease and Desist Until Congress Enacts LegislationOctober 21st, 2019

      A warning letter issued earlier this year by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to Inova Genomics (Inova) prompts some reflections on where things stand now with the regulation of laboratory developed tests (LDTs) under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).  An LDT, …

    • Advertising Laboratory Tests: Change on the Way in MarylandApril 12th, 2019

      The 2019 Maryland Legislative Session closed on April 8th with an exciting development related to laboratory testing.  As we previously reported (see here), Maryland law currently prohibits directly or indirectly advertising or soliciting for medical laboratories.  Two bills were introduced earlier this year to address …

    • New Efforts to Expand Access to Laboratory Tests in MarylandFebruary 6th, 2019

      Readers who work with laboratory tests are likely aware that such tests can be subject to regulation by FDA, CMS, and individual states. A few state laws, particularly those in Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, currently constrain how some laboratory tests are …

    • FDA Formally Recognizes First Public Genetic Information DatabaseDecember 25th, 2018

      For the first time, FDA formally recognized a public database containing information about genes, genetic variants, and their relationship to disease.  FDA announced its formal recognition of the genetic variant information in Clinical Genomic Resource (ClinGen) consortium’s ClinGen Expert Curated Human Genetic Data, a database …

    • Pharmacogenetic Tests: Recent FDA Authorization for One and Warnings about OthersNovember 21st, 2018

      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 …

    • HP&M Weighs in on FDA’s “Technical Assistance” to Proposed IVD LegislationNovember 2nd, 2018

      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 …

    • FDA’s IVD TA: It’s Not Just Technical AssistanceAugust 14th, 2018

      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 …

    • CMS Finalizes National Coverage Determination for Next Generation Sequencing TestsMarch 20th, 2018

      On March 16, 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a new National Coverage Determination (NCD) for Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) tests.  The granting of the new NCD resulted from the FDA – CMS Parallel Review of Foundation Medicine, Inc.’s FoundationOne CDx™ …

    • 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 …

    • FDA Opens A Door For Consumer Genetic TestsDecember 4th, 2017

      On February 19, 2015, FDA granted de novo authorization to 23andMe for genetic tests for autosomal recessive traits that are offered directly to consumers (DEN140044).  Nearly three years later, FDA has proposed a pathway that opens this avenue further.  In a statement on November 6 …

    • FDARA Enacted; HP&M Issues Detailed Summary and AnalysisSeptember 7th, 2017

      On August 18, 2017, President Trump signed into law the Food and Drug Administration Reauthorization Act of 2017 (“FDARA”).  In addition to reauthorizing and amending several drug and medical device provisions that were scheduled to sunset, FDARA also makes several changes to the law concerning …

    • LDTs: The Saga ContinuesMay 14th, 2017

      Over its ten years the FDA Law Blog has posted numerous stories about FDA's regulation of laboratory developed tests (LDTs) (see, e.g., here, here, and here)  Yet, the story of FDA's efforts to regulate LDTs goes back even further than the FDA Law Blog, to …

    • No Final LDT Guidance, But FDA Provides Insight into What a Future Guidance Might ContainJanuary 26th, 2017

      In late November, FDA announced that it would not be finalizing the 2014 draft LDT Guidance.  The Agency had, however, done a significant amount of work regarding the draft guidance and evaluating the regulatory framework for lab tests.  In an effort to document the work …

    • FDA Will Not Finalize Draft LDT Guidances in 2016 – But That’s Not the End of LDT RegulationNovember 21st, 2016

      By Allyson B. Mullen & Jeffrey N. Gibbs – All this year, FDA had signaled it intended to finalize the guidance for Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs). On Friday November 18, 2016, FDA abandoned the effort, stating that it will not provide the requisite 60-day notice to Congress …

    • FDA Issues Updated Draft Guidance for Emergency Use Authorizations: Emphasis on IVDs and Government AgenciesApril 12th, 2016

      By Allyson B. Mullen – On April 1, FDA issued an updated draft guidance regarding the policies and procedures for Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs). The EUA procedures cover all types of medical products including drugs and biologics (e.g., vaccines and therapeutics) and devices (e.g., personal protective …