[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 59 (Tuesday, March 28, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18321-18322]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-06254]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Food and Drug Administration

[Docket No. FDA-2015-D-3419]


General Considerations for Animal Studies Intended To Evaluate 
Medical Devices; Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration 
Staff; Availability

AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing 
the availability of a final guidance entitled ``General Considerations 
for Animal Studies Intended to Evaluate Medical Devices.'' FDA 
developed this guidance document to assist medical device sponsors, 
testing facilities, and other persons involved in designing, 
conducting, and reporting the results of animal studies intended to 
assess the safety of medical devices to support premarket submissions. 
These animal studies typically provide initial evidence of device 
safety, which may include device performance and handling, and the 
biological effects when used in a living system.

DATES: The announcement of the guidance is published in the Federal 
Register on March 28, 2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit either electronic or written comments on 
Agency guidances at any time as follows:

Electronic Submissions

    Submit electronic comments in the following way:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted 
electronically, including attachments, to https://www.regulations.gov 
will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be 
made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment 
does not include any confidential information that you or a third party 
may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone 
else's Social Security number, or confidential business information, 
such as a manufacturing process. Please note that if you include your 
name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in 
the body of your comments, that information will be posted on https://www.regulations.gov.
     If you want to submit a comment with confidential 
information that you do not wish to be made available to the public, 
submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner 
detailed (see ``Written/Paper Submissions'' and ``Instructions'').

Written/Paper Submissions

    Submit written/paper submissions as follows:
     Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier (for written/paper 
submissions): Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug 
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
     For written/paper comments submitted to the Dockets 
Management Staff, FDA will post your comment, as well as any 
attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified, 
as confidential, if submitted as detailed in ``Instructions.''
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket No. 
FDA-2015-D-3419 for ``General Considerations for Animal Studies 
Intended to Evaluate Medical Devices.'' Received comments will be 
placed in the docket and, except for those submitted as ``Confidential 
Submissions,'' publicly viewable at https://www.regulations.gov or at 
the Dockets Management Staff between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, 240-402-7500.
     Confidential Submissions--To submit a comment with 
confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly 
available, submit your comments only as a written/paper submission. You 
should submit two copies total. One copy will include the information 
you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover note that states 
``THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.'' The Agency will 
review this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in 
its consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the 
claimed confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be 
available for public viewing and posted on https://www.regulations.gov. 
Submit both copies to the Dockets Management Staff. If you do not wish 
your name and contact information to be made publicly available, you 
can provide this information on the cover sheet and not in the body of 
your comments and you must identify this information as 
``confidential.'' Any information marked as ``confidential'' will not 
be disclosed except in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other 
applicable disclosure law. For more information about FDA's posting of 
comments to public dockets, see 80 FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or 
access the information at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2015-09-18/pdf/2015-23389.pdf.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in 
the heading of this document, into the ``Search'' box and follow the 
prompts and/or go to the Dockets Management Staff, 5630 Fishers Lane, 
Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852, 240-402-7500.
    You may submit comments on any guidance at any time (see 21 CFR 
10.115(g)(5)).
    An electronic copy of the guidance document is available for 
download from the internet. See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 
for information on electronic access to the guidance. Submit written 
requests for a single hard copy of the guidance document entitled 
``General Considerations for Animal Studies Intended to Evaluate 
Medical Devices'' to the Office of Policy, Center for Devices and 
Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire 
Ave., Bldg. 66, Rm. 5431, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002. Send one self-
addressed adhesive label to assist that office in processing your 
request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Judith A. Davis, Center for Devices 
and Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New 
Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 66, Rm. 2220, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, 301-
796-6636.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    FDA developed this guidance document to assist medical device 
sponsors, testing facilities, and other persons involved in designing, 
conducting, and reporting the results of animal studies intended to 
support the safety of medical devices for premarket submissions. These 
animal studies typically provide initial evidence of device safety, 
which may include their performance and handling, and the biological 
effects when used in a living system. This guidance outlines general 
considerations for certain animal studies used to support device 
premarket submissions, when a suitable alternative to an animal study 
is not available. This guidance provides recommendations on study 
planning,

[[Page 18322]]

including selecting an appropriate animal model; study monitoring; and 
study evaluation. The document also provides recommendations on test 
facility selection, animal housing, and records and reports, including 
animal study reports for premarket submissions. This guidance 
supersedes the final guidance ``General Considerations for Animal 
Studies for Cardiovascular Devices,'' issued on July 28, 2010.
    A notice of availability of the draft guidance appeared in the 
Federal Register of October 14, 2015 (80 FR 61820). FDA considered 
comments received and revised the guidance as appropriate in response 
to the comments, including increased emphasis of the 3Rs to reduce, 
refine, and replace animal use in testing when feasible, reorganization 
of the guidance to better represent the study design, conduct, and 
reporting process, clarification of important terminology, and 
technical edits.
    This guidance is being issued consistent with FDA's good guidance 
practices regulation (21 CFR 10.115). The guidance represents the 
current thinking of FDA on general considerations for animal Studies 
intended to evaluate medical devices. It does not establish any rights 
for any person and is not binding on FDA or the public. You can use an 
alternative approach if it satisfies the requirements of the applicable 
statutes and regulations.

II. Electronic Access

    Persons interested in obtaining a copy of the guidance may do so by 
downloading an electronic copy from the internet. A search capability 
for all Center for Devices and Radiological Health guidance documents 
is available at https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/device-advice-comprehensive-regulatory-assistance/guidance-documents-medical-devices-and-radiation-emitting-products. This guidance document is also 
available at https://www.regulations.gov or https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents. Persons unable to 
download an electronic copy of ``General Considerations for Animal 
Studies Intended to Evaluate Medical Devices'' may send an email 
request to [email protected] to receive an electronic copy of 
the document. Please use the document number GUI00001802 and complete 
title to identify the guidance you are requesting.

III. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    While this guidance contains no new collection of information, it 
does refer to previously approved FDA collections of information. 
Therefore, clearance by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521) is not 
required for this guidance. The previously approved collections of 
information are subject to review by OMB under the PRA. The collections 
of information in the following FDA regulations, guidance, and forms 
have been approved by OMB as listed in the following table:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           OMB  control
21 CFR part; guidance; or FDA form          Topic               No.
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807, subpart E....................  Premarket                  0910-0120
                                     notification.
814, subparts A through E.........  Premarket approval..       0910-0231
814, subpart H....................  Humanitarian Device        0910-0332
                                     Exemption.
812...............................  Investigational            0910-0078
                                     Device Exemption.
``De Novo Classification Process    De Novo                    0910-0844
 (Evaluation of Automatic Class      classification
 III Designation)''.                 process.
``Requests for Feedback on Medical  Q-submissions.......       0910-0756
 Device Submissions: The Pre-
 Submission Program and Meetings
 with Food and Drug Administration
 Staff''.
820...............................  Current Good               0910-0073
                                     Manufacturing
                                     Practice (CGMP);
                                     Quality System (QS)
                                     Regulation.
58................................  Good Laboratory            0910-0119
                                     Practice (GLP)
                                     Regulations for
                                     Nonclinical
                                     Laboratory Studies.
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    Dated: March 21, 2023.
Lauren K. Roth,
Associate Commissioner for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2023-06254 Filed 3-27-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4164-01-P


