MEDICAL DEVICES

IN VITRO DIAGNOSTIC MEDICAL DEVICES

Recitals 11 - 20 (IVDR)

 

(11) Companion diagnostics are essential for defining patients' eligibility for specific treatment with a medicinal product through the quantitative or qualitative determination of specific markers identifying subjects at a higher risk of developing an adverse reaction to the medicinal product in question or identifying patients in the population for whom the therapeutic product has been adequately studied, and found safe and effective. Such biomarker or biomarkers can be present in healthy subjects and/or in patients.

 

(12) Devices that are used with a view to monitoring treatment with a medicinal product in order to ensure that the concentration of relevant substances in the human body is within the therapeutic window are not considered to be companion diagnostics.

 

(13) The requirement to reduce risks as far as possible should be fulfilled taking into account the generally acknowledged state of the art in the field of medicine.

 

(14) Safety aspects addressed by Directive 2014/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council 4 are an integral part of the general safety and performance requirements laid down in this Regulation for devices. Consequently, this Regulation should be considered a lex specialis in relation to that Directive.

 

(15) This Regulation should include requirements regarding the design and manufacture of devices emitting ionizing radiation without affecting the application of Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom 5 which pursues other objectives.

 

(16) This Regulation should include requirements for devices' safety and performance characteristics which are developed in such a way as to prevent occupational injuries, including protection from radiation.

 

(17) It is necessary to clarify that software in its own right, when specifically intended by the manufacturer to be used for one or more of the medical purposes set out in the definition of an in vitro diagnostic medical device, qualifies as an in vitro diagnostic medical device, while software for general purposes, even when used in a healthcare setting, or software intended for well-being purposes is not an in vitro diagnostic medical device. The qualification of software, either as a device or an accessory, is independent of the software's location or the type of interconnection between the software and a device.

 

(18) The definitions in this Regulation regarding the devices themselves, the making available of devices, economic operators, users and specific processes, the conformity assessment, clinical evidence, post-market surveillance, vigilance and market surveillance, standards and other technical specifications, should be aligned with well-established practice in the field at Union and international level in order to enhance legal certainty.

 

(19) It should be made clear that it is essential that devices offered to persons in the Union by means of information society services within the meaning of Directive (EU) 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council 6 and devices used in the context of a commercial activity to provide a diagnostic or therapeutic service to persons within the Union comply with the requirements of this Regulation, where the product in question is placed on the market or the service is provided in the Union.

 

(20) To recognise the important role of standardisation in the field of in vitro diagnostic medical devices, compliance with harmonised standards as defined in Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council 7 should be a means for manufacturers to demonstrate conformity with the general safety and performance requirements and other legal requirements, such as those relating to quality and risk management, laid down in this Regulation.

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