Episode 242

Tips for Being Prepared Post-EUA (Emergency Use Authorization)

Does your company have products that were granted emergency use authorization to get to market? Assuming you want to keep those products on the market post-EUA, do you know what you need to do now to prepare?

In this episode of the Global Medical Device Podcast Jon Speer talks to Mike Drues with Vascular Sciences about the recently released FDA draft guidance that describes transition plans for EUAs and how medical device companies should be preparing before EUAs are terminated by FDA.

Some of the highlights of this episode include:

EUA is one of many pathways that medical device companies can use to bring devices onto the market in the United States. EUA is a temporary authorization—not approval or clearance.
The FDA has authorized more than 800 EUAs for medical devices for COVID-specific indications. The regulatory burden is lower for an EUA than a traditional approval.
The FDA is reasonably expected to give companies a six-month notice for terminating EUAs. However, it takes much longer to get a 510(k), De Novo, or Premarket Approval (PMA) cleared.
Quality versus Quantity: What is worse - not having enough ventilators, diagnostics or more ventilators, diagnostics that don’t work? Both the regulatory and quality burden is higher for companies in the medical device industry.
Certain shortcuts are justified in the short-term but not in the long-term. What companies did before for COVID/EUA medical devices is not enough now.
Don’t waste the FDA’s time. The EUA needs to be a part of a company’s overall regulatory strategy to determine how it fits into the bigger picture.

Memorable quotes from this episode:

“For those of you that have products that went through the EUA pathway to get to market, if you want to keep those products in the market post-EUA, there’s things that you should be doing and frankly you should have already been doing them.” Jon Speer

“The emergency use authorization or the EUA is one of many pathways to market that medical device companies can use to bring devices onto the market here in the U.S.” Mike Drues

“Basically, it’s a very, very special kind of pathway. It is not an approval. It is not a clearance. It’s an authorization.” Mike Drues

“If you’re not building a plan, a strategy, and starting to execute that strategy, you’re going to be leaving the market with your products.” Jon Speer