Is Digital Medicine Bust? Lessons from Akili

The first company to get FDA approval for an app with medical claims, Akili, had miserable sales of only $377,000 over almost a year with its product. The company’s projection of $500M+ revenue per year seems outlandish in the face of that. Whether it is a financial success or a bust, Akili could become the … Read more

FDA Will Start Unannounced Inspections in India and China “Soon”

In response to a report from the GAO chastising FDA for its inadequate foreign audit practices particularly in India and China, FDA promised to start unannounced inspections at manufacturing plants in India and China in “early 2022”. FDA also promised to actively hire more inspectors able to travel to India and China by offering higher … Read more

FDA Suggested Ways For Including Patient Perspectives in Clinical Trials 

The experiences and perspectives of patients and their caregivers could be invaluable in the design of clinical trials intended to evaluate a new product for them. However, the FDA expectations from the process used to involve patients in clinical trial design may create challenges for the sponsors and patients alike. In a new guidance document … Read more

FDA Extends Remote Inspection of Non-Critical Facilities 

FDA has increasingly relied on remote inspections of manufacturing facilities since March 2020. It announced resumption of the normal on-site inspections a few times since then and then re-paused on-site inspections due to the pandemic. Earlier this year, FDA had announced a similar pause in on-site inspections due to the spread of the omicron strain … Read more

FDA Provides Suggestions for Point-of-Care 3D Printing of Devices 

Several 3D printed devices may be printed at the clinic rather than printed at a traditional manufacturing facility and shipped. But 3D printing operations still need to comply with FDA’s QSR and GMP requirements. FDA released a Discussion Paper listing three scenarios for 3D printed devices with examples and tips for complying with FDA’s requirements … Read more

FDA Releases Guidance for Wearables and Apps in Clinical Trials

FDA would like clinical trials using remote data collection devices such as wearable gadgets and phone apps to consider five factors that may influence the reliability and acceptability of the data generated. The devices or apps (software) must be diligently selected to assure it is suitable for the expected data, it should be verified and … Read more

Facebook Changes Ad Policies for Clinical Trials 

Facebook will stop offering a few popular tools for targeted advertising of clinical trials to potential participants soon. The tools together called “Detailed Targeting” allows presenting targeted advertisements to patients based on health conditions. These changes may affect trials that depend primarily on social media for finding patients such as cancer studies, neurological disorders and … Read more