On January 25, 2022, Senators Patty Murray and Richard Burr (Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, respectively) released a “discussion draft” of bipartisan legislation—the Prepare for and Respond to Existing Viruses, Emerging New Threats, and Pandemics Act (“PREVENT Pandemics Act”)—which contains notable provisions related to digital health.
5 Digital Health Issues to Watch at FDA in 2022
As we kick off 2022, several recent developments from FDA suggest that this year could be pivotal for the Agency’s digital health priorities. From new FDA offices and artificial intelligence guidance, to FDA’s user fee commitments and must-pass legislation in Congress, this post outlines five key issues to watch in 2022 related to FDA and
FDA Releases AI Action Plan
FDA has long recognized the significant potential of artificial intelligence- and machine learning- (AI/ML-) based software as a medical device (SaMD) to transform health care as well as the unique challenges presented by AI/ML-based software under the Agency’s traditional medical device regulatory framework. On January 12, 2021, FDA issued the Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML)-Based Software
FDA Issues Final Guidance on Multiple Function Digital Health Software and Other Devices
On July 28, 2020, FDA announced the publication of a final guidance on Multiple Function Device Products: Policy and Considerations that outlines FDA’s evolving approach to the regulation of multiple function device products, including software.
The concept of “multiple function” products was introduced by the 21st Century Cures Act (“Cures Act”) of 2016, which
The Potential Benefits of Digital Health Technology in Managing COVID-19
The COVID-19 crisis is demonstrating the potential of digital health technology to manage some of our greatest public health challenges. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has issued a call to action for technology companies to help the science community answer high-priority scientific questions related to COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control
COVID-19: FDA Regulatory Considerations for Digital Health Solutions
Digital health companies are playing an important role in the global response to the COVID-19 public health emergency. For example, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy issued a Call to Action to the tech community requesting help in answering urgent scientific questions about COVID-19. As readers of this blog are aware, some
FDA Issues Updated Guidance on the Regulation of Digital Health Technologies
On September 26, 2019, the FDA issued two revised guidance documents addressing its evolving approach to the regulation of digital health technologies. These guidances primarily describe when digital health solutions will or will not be actively regulated by FDA as a medical device. In parallel, FDA also updated four previously final guidance documents to ensure alignment with the new approaches being adopted by the Agency.
As background, FDA issued draft guidance documents in December 2017 that sought to implement section 520(o)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”), which was enacted by Congress in the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016 (the “Cures Act”). Those guidance documents raised a number of issues that we discussed on this previous alert.
After receiving comments from stakeholders, the Agency responded by issuing: (i) a revised draft guidance document for clinical decision support (CDS) software (“Clinical and Patient Decision Support Software” or the “CDS Draft Guidance”) and (ii) a final guidance document for other software functions exempted by the Cures Act (“Changes to Existing Medical Software Policies Resulting from Section 3060 of the 21st Century Cures Act” or the “Software Policies Guidance”).
Here are key takeaways on FDA’s newly-issued guidance:
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Top 10 Questions During Ideation of Digital Health Solutions
Our clients increasingly apply agile product and business development methodologies when they are developing digital health solutions. “Ideation” is the part of that process and involves the rapid identification and creation of ideas for digital health solutions, which are then prototyped and tested. Covington has created a Top 10 Questions for Ideation of Digital Health
Significant FDA Digital Health Policy Development for Prescription Drug Sponsors
As previewed by Commissioner Gottlieb several months ago (see our earlier post here), FDA published a notice in the Federal Register on November 20, 2018, to propose a new framework for “prescription drug-use-related software.” The Agency defines this digital health category widely as software disseminated by a prescription drug sponsor for use with the sponsor’s prescription drug(s). Last spring, the Commissioner stated that FDA would be seeking input “on how to support the development of digital health tools that are included as part of approved drugs.” The goal in establishing the framework, Gottlieb stated, would be “to develop an efficient pathway for the review and approval of digital health tools as part of drug review, so that these tools reach their full potential to help us treat illness and disease, and encourage synergies between software and therapeutics that meet FDA’s gold standard for safety and effectiveness.”
This policy development is significant, not only because it is one of CDER’s first policy statements on digital health associated with pharmaceuticals (see a few of our earlier posts about pharma-related digital health here and here), but also because it implicates a broad range of information that could be made available by prescription drug sponsors through software used with their products. We encourage prescription drug sponsors with any interest in providing digital health solutions, including through collaborations, to review the Federal Register notice and consider submitting comments to FDA.
Here are a few key takeaways from FDA’s notice:
- Under the proposed framework, software with the same drug-related functionalities will be subject to different regulatory approaches by FDA, depending on the developer of the software. FDA will apply the proposed framework to prescription drug-user-related software developed by or on behalf of pharmaceutical manufacturers, and a different approach to drug-related software developed “independently” by third-party software developers and other entities that are not prescription drug sponsors.
- It is unclear from the notice how the proposed framework, including the evidentiary standards described in the Federal Register notice, will align with other FDA initiatives such as the use of real-world evidence for drug development and the pre-certification program (see our earlier post here).
- An important question for prescription drug sponsors in particular is whether the proposed framework will encourage continued digital health innovation, including through collaborations, or whether FDA’s proposal will create challenges that may discourage advances in this area.
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Inside FDA’s Latest Digital Health Developments: Gottlieb Sees “Vast Potential” Ahead
On April 26, Commissioner Gottlieb addressed the agency’s progress on FDA’s Digital Health Innovation Action Plan and announced several additional steps the agency is taking to advance the potential benefits of digital health. Here is a recap of the key updates:
(1) Launch of New FDA Program to Apply Digital Health to Drugs
As our