The lifecycle of a medical device
The time from when a medical device enters the market to the time it leaves, and the business and regulatory processes associated with that journey, are referred to as a product lifecycle. Regulatory affairs (RA) professionals have responsibilities at each stage of the product lifecycle and will collaborate with most sections of the business on one or more activities. In this article, we discuss the regulatory responsibilities that are typical in a large, global medical device manufacturer.
Cross collaboration with RA across the globe
The Regulatory Affairs professional at the manufacturer often does not complete regulatory activities alone. Major medical manufacturers have RA employees stationed across the globe. The international RA employees or local distributor will provide insight into their country’s regulatory requirements and will often be the individuals that have direct contact with their country’s government agency.
For example: When a manufacturer is working on a Registration in China, the Regulatory Affairs Engineer in the U.S. may be on an 8pm call coordinating with a Regulatory Affairs Professional in China.
Manufacturing RA Responsibilities
- Provide details and information on the medical device.
- Assist in-country RA in providing manufacturing SME team support on governmental questions during submission review.
- Provide appropriate documentation from the SME teams to help complete the regulatory submission.
In-country RA Responsibilities
- Provide insight on the in-country medical device requirements.
- Identify Standards particular to the country.
- Manage in-country specific submission deliverables.
- Identify devices that need to be provided for in-country testing (if applicable).
Each major lifecycle stage – pre-market, market placement, and post-market – are discussed below.
Pre-market
Research and development
A new medical device begins with an idea for a product and an R&D process that will eventually include the quality and regulatory departments. Once designed, these devices are heavily tested to industry standards that are applicable to the device. Higher risk devices must also go through clinical trials before being brought to market. Information on compliance with standards and results from testing are included in the submission documents used to obtain market access.
Each department plays a role in ensuring that a device and all supporting information is ready to request market entrance.
Regulatory responsibilities
- Identify applicable standards that will apply to the new device.
- Collaborate with R&D to understand the functions of the new device.
- Identify the intended use of the device.
- Classify the device for major markets.
- Collaborate with in-country RA for any additional device testing.
R&D responsibilities
- Test the new device to the standards that regulatory tells them to or find a vendor that does that testing.
- Compile the testing reports.
Business role responsibilities
- Approve the financials for the R&D work.
- Have an initial scope of regions where the device would be sold.
Initial business case
In parallel to the R&D preparation, a business plan will be developed by the Sales and Marketing teams, along with the Product and Project Managers (“business” teams). The business plan will detail where a product will be distributed and sold. It is incredibly important for the regulatory team to have a full understanding of this plan as early as possible so that they can research regulatory requirements and develop a regulatory plan.
The initial business case is often a back-and-forth conversation between those developing the business plan and the manufacturing and regulatory teams. The business often asks and heavily relies on the regulatory professional to describe the submission processes per country, to note any particularly challenging country for registration, and to explain why there are more requirements in some markets.
Regulatory Responsibilities
- Notify the business of the cost of the submissions for all markets that the business intends to sell in (Market Access Submissions cost money).
- Notify the business of the cost of man-hours on a per-registration basis.
- Notify the business of the labeling costs.
- Translating the manual into multiple languages.
- Applying country-specific labeling on the package or on the device.
Business Responsibilities
- Make good financial decisions on go-to-market.
- Approve staffing resources for the regulatory activity.
- Create a priority for submission activity.
Regulatory Plan
The regulatory department creates a plan of how to gain market access based on the initial business case. For large expansive launches in many countries, a regulatory plan may need to consider over 100 country requirements, which often includes a phased approach to product launches.
Regulatory responsibilities are often split between the RA resources at the manufacturer and those that are in the country in which the device is being marketed. While they vary by company, responsibilities often look something like this:
Manufacturing RA responsibilities
- Draft the regulatory plan.
- Provide classification for country of origin and some major markets.
- Provide appropriate documentation from the SME teams to complete the regulatory submission.
In-country RA responsibilities
- Provide insight on the in-country medical device requirements.
- Classify the device per country standards.
- Identify in-country specific submission deliverables that need manufacturing SME support.
- Identify devices that need to be provided for in-country testing (if applicable).
- Provide timeline estimations for international submissions.
Initial pre-market submissions
In regulated markets, a company needs to “register” their device prior to shipping, selling or marketing a device in the country. These submissions often contain confidential business information and test reports that were identified as needed in the regulatory plan. Once the device is accepted, a certificate is given to the manufacturer allowing the product to be sold in that market.
Typically, manufacturers begin by registering in their country of origin and a small subset of highly marketable countries. This phase often includes the USA and EU. Once a majority of those submissions are completed, submissions to other markets are addressed in a phased approach. There can be multiple waves of these registrations, and the entire registration process can last for months. Registration projects also often overlap for the manufacturing regulatory professional.
Manufacturing regulatory responsibilities
- Provide appropriate documentation from the SME teams to complete the regulatory submission.
- Notify SME teams when support is needed.
- Coordinate and compilate SME answers to governmental questions.
- Update the business on the submission progress.
- Notify the business when the submission is complete.
SME teams responsibilities
- Provide adequate information about the device per the regulatory plan.
- Notify the manufacturing regulatory team of any governmental questions and ask for support when needed.
- Notify the manufacturing regulatory team of submission progress.
- Provide SME support to develop the submission and answer governmental questions.
Business responsibilities
- Provide funding for this activity.
Expansion to the rest of the globe
Once the initial launch is completed or near completion, submission activity now begins in every other market that the business approves to launch in. For large and expansive businesses, this launch can be over 100 countries, which can mean 100 regulatory product registrations.
Manufacturing regulatory responsibilities
- Provide appropriate device information to in-country RA for submission support.
- Notify SME teams when support is needed.
- Coordinate and compilate SME answers to governmental questions.
- Update the business on the submission progress.
- Notify the business when any submissions are complete.
In-country RA responsibilities
- Complete in-country submission deliverables.
- Identify standards particular to the country.
- Manage in-country specific submission deliverables.
- Identify devices that need to be provided for in-country testing (if applicable).
SME teams responsibilities
- Provide adequate information about the device per the regulatory plan.
- Provide SME support to develop the submission and answer governmental questions.
Marketing the device
Once a device is fully registered in the regulated country, it can be marketed. However, any marketing material that is created often goes through an additional legal and regulatory review as any inaccuracy can lead to fines for mislabeling the device.
Manufacturing regulatory responsibilities
- Coordinate with clinical to ensure claims are aligned.
- Review marketing content to ensure regulatory compliance.
- Notify the business when approvals are received so marketing knows when they can begin marketing the device in that country.
Marketing responsibilities
- Create drafted content which could be product sheets, social media posts, or presentations for conferences.
- Accept regulatory review of the marketing materials.
Market placement
Change management
Businesses add features and change medical devices all of the time. They may shift where the manufacturing facility is located, add an accessory, change a motor - all of these changes need to be assessed and submission may need to be done prior to market entry for those changes. These changes also need to be assessed on a global scale. The more countries that are involved, the more complex that process is.
For every change, a survey is often sent out to the in-country regulatory teams, and they are often responsible for completing that assessment for their country. These are typically called impact surveys. It is then up to the RA team at the manufacturer to compile those responses and to receive approval from the business to complete any additional submissions to governments that may be required.
R&D responsibilities
- R&D and project teams determine a change is needed.
- Notify the manufacturing regulatory team of the upcoming change.
Manufacturing regulatory responsibilities
- Fully understand the change that is coming from R&D.
In-country regulatory responsibilities
- In-country specialist completes the impact survey.
- Notify the manufacturing regulatory team if additional submission activity is needed, along with the timeline for that activity and the deliverables/support required.
Business responsibilities
- Approve the submission activity and finance it as needed.
Renewals
After the initial submission, most countries will require a renewal submission after a set number of years to keep the device in the market. It is critical that renewal dates are tracked and managed appropriately. Missed renewal dates may require several months to over a year of work to obtain market approval again. During that time, all sales of the product are stopped.
Manufacturing regulatory responsibilities
- Notify the business of upcoming renewals.
- Coordinate with in-country RA to provide documents and assist in the submission for the renewal.
- Coordinate SME support for governmental questions if needed.
In-country regulatory responsibilities
- Notify manufacturing regulatory in a timely manner when renewals are needed.
- Submit the renewal to the government authority.
Business responsibilities
- Approve the renewals.
Post-market
Audits
Governments and other regulatory bodies will often audit the medical device manufacturer to ensure that they are in compliance with current regulations.
Manufacturing regulatory responsibilities
- Gathering device marketing registration history and facility registration for a specific set of countries to be presented by the auditor.
- Familiarizing yourself with the registrations and recent regulatory work that has occurred in the country to be prepared for auditor's questions.
- Responding to auditors questions if you are on “Audit Duty”.
Quality department responsibilities
- Manage the facility tour.
- Be responsible for the majority of the Quality Management System (QMS).
Research and development
- Provide the subject matter expert (SME) with explanations of how testing was developed for the product and the outcomes of said testing.
Post-market surveillance and reporting
Manufacturers must have ways of accepting customer complaints. In certain cases, when the complaints relate to health and safety concerns pertaining to the device, the manufacturer may need to report these complaints to their government or other countries where the device is sold.
Correctional activities (recalls)
If a company finds a health and safety risk to their device, the company as a whole may need to gather all of the devices that are affected and either repair them or destroy them.
Obsolescence
Obsoleting a product is often a regulatory step and a submission step as well. There are many reasons to take a device out of a market; low sales, new requirements causing additional work that is not financially feasible, or new devices being available that are part of a newer generation that are safer for the user are a few reasons.
Business responsibilities
- Notify manufacturing RA and in-country marketing of the obsolescence of the device in the market.
Manufacturing RA responsibilities
- Notify in-Country RA of the obsolescence and expected date that the business will stop supporting the device in that market.
In-country RA responsibilities
- Submit obsolescence notification to the authority.
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