HSA Enables Faster and Expedited Access for Class C & D Medical Devices

The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) announced today that that its medical device regulatory framework will be further enhanced to facilitate faster access and lower regulatory fees for Class C and D medical devices with effect from 01 January 2013. These changes were made following the enhancements to Class A and B medical devices made on 20 April 2012. Class C and D devices account for approximately 30% of all the total medical device applications received.

2      The introduction of the new expedited route for Class C and D devices is intended to facilitate faster access to medical devices, through judicious referencing of HSA's medical device independent reference regulatory agencies and safe history of use of these products. The referencing of overseas agencies' evaluation also helps to reduce the time required for the review of each application, thereby translating to shorter turn-around times and lower regulatory fees.

3      To safeguard the health of our patients and in accordance to the risk-based approach to the medical device regulations, some of the long-term implantable devices, devices incorporating a registrable drug, and high risk diagnostic test kits with significant impact on public health will be excluded from the expedited registration routes for Class C and D devices (See Annex A for the full list of such devices). These devices will have to be registered via the full or abridged evaluation routes currently available.

Faster and Expedited Access for Class C and D Devices

4      HSA will be implementing the following new routes from 01 January 2013 (See Annex B for the summary):

i. Expedited Class C Registration Evaluation Route

Devices qualifying for this route are Class C medical devices that have obtained approval from at least two of HSA's independent reference agencies1, or at least one of HSA's independent reference regulatory agencies and marketed in this jurisdiction without any safety issues for at least three years.

The turn-around time will reduce from 160 to 120 working days with an estimated cost saving of $500 per application. About 75% of the current existing Class C applications will be eligible for this route.

ii. Expedited Class D Registration Evaluation Route

Devices qualifying for this route are Class D medical devices with approvals from at least two of HSA's independent reference regulatory agencies. The turn-around time will reduce from 220 to 180 working days, with a reduction of regulatory fee by $300 per application. About 50% of the current existing Class D applications will be eligible for this route.

In view of the higher risk profile of these two categories of devices, HSA will not be introducing immediate access routes for Class C and D devices, unlike the earlier enhancements for Class B devices.

Reduced Regulatory Requirement for Class A Device Dealer Licensing

5      Importers and wholesalers of medical devices in Singapore are required to meet GDPMDS (Good Distribution Practice for Medical Devices in Singapore) requirements, the objective of which is to ensure the quality and integrity of medical devices throughout the distribution process. The GDPMDS certificate is issued by third party certification bodies accredited by the Singapore Accreditation Council, and is valid for three years with an annual site audit, in accordance with international ISO practice.

6      From 01 January 2013, HSA will be introducing a tiered quality management system (QMS) requirement for dealers (importers and wholesalers) who solely deal with low risk Class A medical devices. In place of the GDPMDS certification, companies will be required to satisfy HSA's reduced regulatory requirements by submitting HSA's QMS assessment form, with an annual declaration on the companies' compliance to the tiered QMS requirements. This translates to approximately 30% less documentation than the current GDPMDS requirements for the higher risk Class B - D devices. These dealers will be subject to post-market surveillance, including selective on-site audits using a risk-based approach. It is estimated that 10 - 15% of the current number of dealers will benefit from this exemption and save the cost of GDPMDS certification fees.

Greater Emphasis on Post-Market Measures

7      "Responding to stakeholder feedback, HSA has rolled out a series of enhancements this year to enable expedited access for medical devices. To ensure that patient safety continues to be safeguarded with the expedited access, we have continually strengthened our post-market vigilance, compliance, audit and enforcement activities. This will enable us to detect safety signals from the market early and investigate adverse events promptly. We will continue to work with the industry and healthcare professionals to refine the regulatory framework andfacilitate the access of more new and innovative devices into the market to better meet the medical needs of our patients. The close collaboration between HSA, healthcare professionals and industry is key to assuring the safe use of medical devices in Singapore,” said Dr Raymond Chua, Group Director of HSA's Health Products Regulation Group.

8      HSA has stepped up its vigilance activities to encourage more voluntary reporting of adverse events for medical devices by the healthcare professionals and mandatory reporting by the industry. Regular roadshows are conducted to heighten the awareness of adverse events reporting, including the distribution of brochures and electronic guidance documents to guide healthcare professionals on the reporting. Other post-market surveillance initiatives, which include random checks and device sampling in the market, as well as environmental scanning for overseas alerts and local safety signals, are also strengthened. Tighter controls on the licensees and dealers will also be imposed to assure the quality of dealers bringing in these medical devices. HSA will continue to enhance the post-market surveillance framework for medical devices and explore more measures going forward to expeditiously pick up and track signals to enhance patient safety.

Extensive Consultation with Industry

9      These changes and initiatives are the result of extensive engagement and consultation with the industry and medical and dental specialists since April 2012. Over 10 consultations were conducted with the involvement of more than 100 industry players.

10     The feedback received has been very helpful to HSA in appreciating key issues faced by stakeholders, and has fed into the design of the enhancements announced today. At the same time, HSA has been mindful to ensure that appropriate safety and quality standards are met to protect patient safety, and that post-marketing vigilance is a key component in safeguarding patients' health and safety.

Positive Feedback Received from Industry

11     “The recently announced enhancements by HSA, are certainly in the right direction, especially the expedited evaluation route, as speed to market is always a major concern for the Medtech industry. HSA has also shown to be more open to hearing industry feedback and acting on them in a timely manner. Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF) will continue to work closely with HSA and to provide industry feedback as well as partner with them in future activities, for the betterment of the Medtech Industry,” commented Ms Jacqueline C. Monteiro, Deputy Chairman of MedTech & Life Sciences Industry Group, SMF.

12     "The new expedited routes provide more options and quicker turn-around time for medical device companies who deal with Class C and D products. On behalf of the industry, we like to thank HSA for their continued efforts to hear us and then make improvements on their regulatory processes. AMDI will continue to be the voice of the industry and work closely with HSA on all matters,” said Mr Henry Tan, President of Association of Medical Device Industry (Singapore).

13     Ms Elise C. Rada, Executive, Marketing Support of Servicom Medical (Singapore) Pte Ltd said, “The new routes not only help to reduce our resources needed to put up each application, the faster application processing time also enables our products gain faster access to the market, giving us a competitive edge.” Regulatory Affairs Singapore Team, Johnson & Johnson Medical Asia Pacific also agreed, “A step in the right direction. Speed to market should improve which will benefit the industry.”

HEALTH SCIENCES AUTHORITY
SINGAPORE
21 DECEMBER 2012

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