Medical Devices – Latest Updates

On the 6th January 2023, the European Commission adopted a proposal to give more time for medical device certification to mitigate the risk of bottlenecks. In addition to a press release, the European Commission published a Questions and Answers document and a Factsheet European Health Union: Supporting the transition to the new medical device framework.

The key elements of the proposal are:

• For medical devices covered by a certificate or a declaration of conformity issued before 26 May 2021, the transition period to the new rules is extended from 26 May 2024 to 31 December 2027 for higher risk devices and until 31 December 2028 for medium and lower risk devices. The extension will be subject to certain conditions, so that only devices that are safe and for which manufacturers have already taken steps to transition to the rules provided for by the Medical Devices Regulation will benefit from the additional time.
• The proposal introduces a transition period until 26 May 2026 also for class III implantable custom-made devices, giving their manufacturers more time to obtain certification by a notified body. Also in this case, the transition period is subject to the application of the manufacturer for a conformity assessment of devices of this type before 26 May 2024.
• To reflect the transition periods put forward by these amendments, the proposal extends the validity of certificates issued up until 26 May 2021, the day when the Medical Devices Regulation became applicable.
• The Commission also proposes to remove the ‘sell-off’ date currently established in the Medical Devices Regulation and in the In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation. The ‘sell-off’ date is the end date after which devices that have already been placed on the market, and remain available for purchase, should be withdrawn. Removing this ‘sell-off’ date will ensure that safe and essential medical devices that are already on the market remain available to healthcare systems and to patients in need.¹