Home 5 Articles 5 Agency Regains Its Authority to Regulate Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs)

Agency Regains Its Authority to Regulate Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs)

by | Nov 24, 2021 | Articles, Clinical Diagnostics Insider, Diagnostic Testing and Emerging Technologies

In a surprising reversal of policy that had already been reversed in recent months, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will once more enforce premarket review requirements for Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs). The Nov. 15 announcement comes just over a year after HHS removed FDA authority over LDTs in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency. FDA LDTs Regulation during the COVID-19 Crisis The COVID-19 public health emergency exposed the weaknesses in the FDA’s makeshift system of regulating LDTs via its legislative authority over new medical devices. The agency’s attempts to assert 510(k) premarket control over LDTs in the first days of the crisis at a time when innovative COVID-19 tests were in desperate need drew widespread criticism. FDA red tape was seen as hampering the effectiveness of pandemic response. FDA responded in March 2020 by unveiling a new policy empowering laboratories to develop and utilize their own tests, provided that they notify the agency that they were shipping products. In May, when it had become clear that the new policy had gone too far in the other direction by allowing for junk tests to reach the market, […]

In a surprising reversal of policy that had already been reversed in recent months, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will once more enforce premarket review requirements for Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs). The Nov. 15 announcement comes just over a year after HHS removed FDA authority over LDTs in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

FDA LDTs Regulation during the COVID-19 Crisis

The COVID-19 public health emergency exposed the weaknesses in the FDA’s makeshift system of regulating LDTs via its legislative authority over new medical devices. The agency’s attempts to assert 510(k) premarket control over LDTs in the first days of the crisis at a time when innovative COVID-19 tests were in desperate need drew widespread criticism. FDA red tape was seen as hampering the effectiveness of pandemic response.

FDA responded in March 2020 by unveiling a new policy empowering laboratories to develop and utilize their own tests, provided that they notify the agency that they were shipping products. In May, when it had become clear that the new policy had gone too far in the other direction by allowing for junk tests to reach the market, the FDA changed course by requiring Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for diagnostic tests.

The next twist came in August 2020 when HHS took matters into its own hand by ordering FDA not to require premarket review for LDTs. The move, which was part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to cut red tape impeding business, caught the laboratory industry by surprise and drew widespread criticism, including from influential former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who warned of the new policy’s potential to undermine the agency’s ability to provide critical advice to test developers and crack down on bad tests.

New HHS Policy Restores Premarket Review of LDTs

Now, the pendulum has swung back again. Supplies of COVID-19 tests have stabilized. And the agency has had to recall a number of new tests amid concerns about their accuracy. On Nov. 15, HHS announced that the previous policy of allowing makers of LDTs to bypass the 510(k) premarket review clearance and EUA processes has impaired FDA’s ability to address problematic COVID-19 tests. From now on, according to HHS Xavier Becerra, the historical review rules will apply and LDTs will not receive separate treatment.

As a result of the new/old policy, makers currently offering tests launched without submission of an EUA request will have to submit an EUA request. In addition, the agency will review pending EUA request submissions for LDTs. If the agency does not subsequently approve the EUA request, it will notify the test maker who will then have to stop marketing the product within 15 calendar days.

The new HHS policy also establishes new limits on which COVID-19 LDTs tests can have access to the EUA pathway to market. (See the related story).

Meanwhile, here are some of the key new FDA EUAs and clearances that were announced in November 2021

 New FDA Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) & Approvals

Manufacturer(s) Product
Meridian Bioscience EUA for Revogene SARS-CoV-2 molecular test run on firm’s Revogene instrument
Talis Biomedical EUA for Talis One COVID-19 point-of-care test
iHealth EUA for COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test lateral flow assay
LumiraDx Expanded EUA for use of COVID-19 antigen test to test the asymptomatic
BloodHub 510(k) clearance for version v1.1.0 of BloodRelay blood establishment inventory management software
Clever Culture Systems 510(k) clearance for APAS Independence platform for bacterial culture analysis for use with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus samples
Detect EUA for over-the-counter, at-home Detect SARS-CoV-2 Test
Ortho Clinical Diagnostics 510(k) clearance for Vitros Immunodiagnostic Products NT-proBNP II Reagent Pack to measure N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide
Siemens Healthineers 510(k) clearance for N Latex FLC Kappa and Lambda IVD reagents to detect kappa and lambda free light chains in serum
Roche 510(k) clearance for Cobas Cdiff real-time PCR nucleic acid test run on firm’s Cobas Liat point-of-care system
InBios International EUA for SCoV-2 Detect Neutralizing Ab ELISA immunoassay
Celltrion EUA for over-the-counter, at-home SARS-CoV-2 antigen test
Biological Dynamics Breakthrough device designation for Exo-PDAC liquid biopsy assay
Cognetivity Neurosciences Ltd Clearance for CognICA, 5-minute, computerized cognitive assessment for detecting dementia done on an iPad

 

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