A few months back, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced they are making permanent their “Program for Parallel Review of Medical Devices,” which is now operating as a pilot program. The parallel review initiative allows concurrent FDA and CMS review of a medical device with the goal of reducing the time between FDA marketing approval or granting of a de novo request and Medicare coverage decisions, thereby “facilitating earlier access to innovative medical technologies for Medicare beneficiaries.”
Announcement of Extension
In the notice announcing the extension of the parallel review program, the agencies observe that the pilot program benefitted manufacturers by providing feedback to help design pivotal trials that can answer both agencies’ evidentiary questions. The notice also cites the program’s success in facilitating issuance of a Medicare national coverage determination less than two months after a medical technology received FDA premarket approval. The agencies are soliciting nominations from manufacturers of additional innovative medical devices to participate in the parallel review program. However, the agencies will only accept five candidates per year.
Federal Register
In the official announcement, FDA and CMS describe the Parallel Review program is a collaborative effort that is intended to reduce the time between FDA marketing approval or FDA’s granting of a de novo request and Medicare coverage decisions through CMS’s National Coverage Determination (NCD) process. This program is intended to ensure prompt and efficient patient access to safe and effective and appropriate medical devices for the Medicare population
Parallel Review allows both FDA and CMS to review information about a medical device concurrently, rather than sequentially, while continuing to make their premarket review and coverage decisions consistent with their respective statutory authority. FDA works to ensure that only safe and effective medical devices are marketed in the United States. CMS makes coverage decisions for medical technologies, which are reasonable and necessary for the Medicare population. Neither FDA’s premarket review criteria nor CMS’s coverage processes criteria change when a medical device is accepted into the parallel review program.
Lessons Learned From the Parallel Review Pilot Program
The FDA and CMS write that they learned two primary lessons from the Parallel Review pilot program. First, they found that manufacturers benefit from engaging both Agencies at the pivotal clinical trial design phase. The feedback that manufacturers receive from both Agencies at the pivotal clinical trial design stage can assist manufacturers in designing pivotal trials that can answer both Agencies’ evidentiary questions. Thus, it is more likely that manufacturers will only need to conduct a single pivotal clinical study rather than several pivotal clinical studies to satisfy both Agencies. Second, concurrent review by the Agencies of clinical evidence can reduce the time from FDA premarket approval or the granting of a de novo request to an NCD. For example, on August 11, 2014, FDA approved a medical device that was part of the Parallel Review Pilot Program. On the same day, CMS initiated its national coverage analysis (NCA). CMS published a favorable final NCD on October 9, 2014, less than 2 months after the medical device received its premarket approval and 7 months before the NCD statutory due date.
Parallel Review Process
The program has two stages: (1) The pivotal clinical trial design development stage, and (2) the concurrent evidentiary review stage. The manufacturer should submit a request for parallel review prior to the start of the first stage by sending an email to Parallel-Review@ fda.hhs.gov, which indicates their interest in the program and includes the following information:
- Nomination of manufacturer:
- Name of the manufacturer and relevant contact information;
- name of the product;
- succinct description of the technology and disease or condition the device is intended to diagnose or treat; and
- state of development of the technology (that is, in pre-clinical testing, in clinical trials, currently undergoing premarket review by FDA)
- A statement that the manufacturer intends to meet jointly with FDA and CMS using FDA’s Pre-Submission program, or other mechanisms that allow for meetings of the three parties to gather and incorporate feedback from both Agencies about the design and analysis of their pivotal clinical trial, to support a marketing application and a National Coverage Determination.
- A statement that the medical device will require an original or supplemental application for premarket approval (PMA) or the granting of an FDA de novo request.
- The medical device is not excluded by statute from Part A and/or Part B Medicare coverage (and the request for parallel review includes a list of Part A and/or Part B Medicare benefit categories, as applicable, into which the manufacturer believes the medical device falls).
- A statement that the medical device addresses the public health needs of the Medicare population (and the request for parallel review includes an explanation of how).
Upon completion of the pivotal trial and submission of an original or supplemental PMA, or a de novo request, the Agencies intend to review the pivotal clinical trial evidence concurrently. Both Agencies will independently review the data to determine whether it meets their respective Agency’s standards and communicate with the manufacturer during their respective reviews.