While the Medicare Coverage of Innovative Technologies (MCIT) program has been formally abandoned, the U.S. CMS has resurrected those policy underpinnings in the form of the Transitional Coverage for Emerging Technologies (TCET) concept. Several speakers on a recent webinar said the TCET paradigm should allow CMS to promptly rescind coverage in the event of a safety signal, including Mark McClellan, who has served as both FDA commissioner and CMS administrator.
The ongoing tension between manufacturers of imaging systems and entities that perform extensive servicing activities has prompted activity on Capitol Hill in the form of H.R. 7253, the Clarifying Remanufacturing to Protect Patient Safety Act.
After more than 10 years on the market in Europe, Staar Surgical Co. can finally see a brighter future for its newest lenses in the U.S. This week, the company received FDA premarket supplement approval of its Evo/Evo+ Visian implantable lens for the correction of myopia and myopia with astigmatism in patients aged 21 to 45. Made of a proprietary poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-based collagen co-polymer the company calls Collamer, the lens is inserted behind the iris in a quick procedure and can be removed, if needed. Unlike laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK), the Evo procedure does not remove corneal tissue.
Policymakers shouldn’t look to march-in rights as a simple solution to make medical products more affordable, according to experts speaking at an Information Technology & Innovation Foundation discussion on how using the march-in provisions of the Bayh-Dole Act as price controls would threaten America’s research universities.
Medtronic plc reported its tibial neuromodulation device was implanted in the first patient with overactive bladder as part of its Titan 2 pivotal study. The device stimulates the posterior tibial nerve near the ankle to assist in regulation of bladder function. Medtronic expects to enroll 130 patients in the study.
The Biden administration has floated a budget proposal for fiscal year 2023, which includes $49 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and an additional FDA budget authority of $356 million over the current fiscal year. However, the budget also includes legislative proposals, such as a virtual inspection requirement for device manufacturing facilities and compulsory studies of drug shelf life to evaluate finished drug stability beyond the labeled expiration.
Pavmed Inc. implanted its Portio system in three patients in a first-in-human (FIH) study of its intraosseous infusion system and successfully infused fluids in all patients without complications. The Portio system allows long-term direct access to bone marrow for delivery of fluids, medications and other substances in individuals with poor venous access, kidney dialysis or adverse reactions to anticoagulants.
The U.S. FDA has approved Novartis AG’s Pluvicto (lutetium Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan, formerly referred to as 177Lu-PSMA-617) for treating adults with metastatic prostate-specific membrane antigen-positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The treatment is the indication’s first FDA-approved targeted radioligand therapy that contains a radioisotope.
The FDA cleared a peripheral vascular occlusion product developed by Artio Medical Inc. The Solus Gold embolization device is indicated to obstruct or reduce the rate of blood flow in the peripheral vasculature.
Citing a court order for its haste, the U.S. FDA skipped the draft and went straight to issuing a final guidance that will change how certain ophthalmic drugs are regulated.