FDA Redefines Term “Device”

By William E. Spanogle, Ph.D.   01/02/2022

  Category: pharmaceutical consulting firms

In December 2021, the FDA Redefined their use of the term “Device”.

Comprehensive compliant implementation of the FDA’s Medical Device Requirements hinges upon proactive utilization of Medical Device Consultants, GMP Consultants, and a FDA US Agent (non-USA Based Firms) and are essential to expedite your FDA 510(k) Submission.

As of December 2021, the FDA partitioned the use of the term “Device” in two ways.

  1. “The term “device” (except when used in paragraph (n) of this section and in sections 301(i), 403(f), 502(c), and 602(c)) means an instrument, apparatus, implement, machine, contrivance, implant, in vitro reagent, or other similar or related article, including any component, part, or accessory, which is— (A) recognized in the official National Formulary, or the United States Pharmacopeia, or any supplement to them, (B) intended for use in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, in man or other animals, or (C) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or other animals, and which does not achieve its primary intended purposes through chemical action within or on the body of man or other animals and which is not dependent upon being metabolized for the achievement of its primary intended purposes. The term “device” does not include software functions excluded pursuant to section 520(o).”
  2. “The term “counterfeit device” means a device which, or the container, packaging, or labeling of which, without authorization, bears a trademark, trade name, or other identifying mark or imprint, or any likeness thereof, or is manufactured using a design, of a device manufacturer, processor, packer, or distributor other than the person or persons who in fact manufactured, processed, packed, or distributed such device and which thereby falsely purports or is represented to be the product of, or to have been packed or distributed by, such other device manufacturer, processor, packer, or distributor.”

Class I, II, III Medical Device terms remain the same and are based upon Device “risks and the regulatory controls necessary to provide a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness.”

Proactive utilization of Medical Device Consultants, GMP Consultants, and a FDA US Agent (non-USA Based Firms) continue to be essential hinge points to expedite your FDA 510(k) Submission.

Author Information

William E. Spanogle, Ph.D. has over 30 years of management, full spectrum Regulated Life Sciences, RA, QA (GCP, GLP. GMP), EU-MDR, Design Controls. QMS, PMS, CSV/CSA, and R&D experience. He is a published ISPE Invitational author in Pharmaceutical and Biologics Product and Process Development and has presented and trained thousands of professionals on QbD, Design Controls, Science-Risk Based Product Characterization, and Risk Management at several international conferences and numerous private corporate sessions. Dr. Spanogle has taken scores of Regulated Life Science Products from discovery to pre-clinical and clinical trials, to approval and launch; and audited, identified, and remediated QMS deficiencies.

The opinions and statements in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of BRG. This blog is based on personal experience and reviews of information publicly available or identified in other database searches.

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