In this soundbite from RCA Radio, Erika Porcelli, CEO of Regulatory Compliance Associates® (RCA), provides examples of how different size companies leverage the stage of business they’re in to accelerate development with outsourced staff.
Start ups vs Large Companies
Using Staff augmentation to bring in SMEs gives companies the ability to scale up and scale down quickly without taking away people from other projects.
Start-ups are typically not ready to bring on a full-time employee. In cases like these, we can bring in a subject matter expert (SME) that can help work through any regulatory, compliance, or quality problem and assist on an as-needed base.
Larger companies typically need help when they are performing a project such as adding a new manufacturing line into a facility. They don’t do this all of the time and only need the extra resources for this particular project. In cases like these, we will put together a team with the right skillsets that can complete the particular project. Once completed, RCA perform a hand-off with the client, and our team steps away from the project.
All companies experience staffing support issues whether they are transient and short-lived, chronic and unplanned, or intrinsic to your business model. RCA has consultants that develop a solution to your specific needs; we can help “right-size” your team when and where you need it most.
Outsourcing has become an increasingly common practice in the life science industry. The quality assurance (QA) and regulatory affairs (RA) functions create extra complexity for large and small life science companies because needs may vary greatly depending on the life cycle of the organization. These companies turn to outsourcing to manage operations and tactical skills, and also help adopt best practices.
Successful execution comes through project monitoring, issue resolution, and risk management of the process through clear leadership. RCA’s team of experienced project management professionals organize and manage resources to ensure that projects are completed successfully, on time, and within budget.
RCA Outsourcing Services
Project Management
To be successful in the field of manufacturing, you must have a proper project management plan in place. Not only do project management procedures keep your projects on time and on schedule, but they also ensure your devices’ compliance with stringent national and international regulations. RCA can help you develop an effective plan, and we can even lead these tasks so that you can run more projects at one time more efficiently.
Our outsourced staff capabilities for project management capabilities include:
On-site Project Leadership or Project Management Support
Design and Implementation of a Project Management Office
Development and Implementation of Compliant Methods
Risk Management
Issues Resolution and Decision Tracking
Change Management
Performance Measurement and Tracking
Tool Selection for Program Portfolio and Resource Management
Staff Augmentation
Many companies need the assistance of a professional with specific skills and expertise when completing a project but might not have the need or resources to hire this expert as a full-time employee. Instead, you can add experienced professionals to your staff for a short- or long-term project through our medical device staffing support capabilities. RCA’s outsourcing solutions can help you manage even your most complex projects with experts trained in areas such as:
Quality Assurance
Regulatory Affairs
Validation
Operations
Product Development
Consulting Support
Maybe your company is struggling to complete projects on time, or perhaps you often face challenges associated with product compliance. Whatever your situation, our consultants will work with you to ensure your business’ success with consulting support services. By getting to know more about your business and goals, we’ll tailor our approach to best meet your particular needs.
Advantages of Outsourcing
When you hit a snag in your project’s development, you need to design and develop the best solution to create a timely, quality finished product. RCA’s quality assurance and regulatory affairs consultants can help you define the specific problem, generate ideas for a potential solution, and implement that solution for the utmost success in your project’s completion.
Our goal is to help you get your projects to completion on time and on budget — all while outsourced staff keeps superior quality at the forefront of your every task. And with a team of more than 500 pharmaceutical consultants and industry experts with an average of 25 years of experience in the life science industries, we have the extensive resources and expertise needed to meet this goal.
Strategic Outsourcing
Medical device manufacturers face the challenging task of creating top-quality products quickly with minimal personnel and growing compliance regulations to adhere to. With these increasing challenges, it’s no wonder so many local startups and Fortune 100 companies alike choose RCA for outsourced staff and strategic outsourcing services.
To begin the Regulatory Compliance Associates scoping process today, please enter your information in the blue form below and click the submit button at the bottom of the webpage. You may also email us at [email protected].
Click now to learn from Sue Schniepp, Distinguished Fellow at Regulatory Compliance Associates, as she describes microbial process design and how your team can improve contamination control.
Human microbes live in every part of a human being, including the skin, gut, and nose. Trillions of microorganisms live inside the human body — often outnumbering human cells by 10 to 1. However, microorganisms only make up roughly 1 to 3 percent of the body’s mass because of their tiny size. Sometimes microbes in food can lead to illness, but it is more common for microbes in human body functions to safely live in their host. Additionally, many types of microbes provide unique qualities that help increase life expectancy and human survival in general.
Annex 1
When it comes to microbial control and process design, there are unique drivers listed in the EU’s Annex 1 regulatory guidance that can help your organization. This regulatory compliance guidance contains different types of contamination control requirements.
Further, these drivers come in many different shapes and sizes, but all can impact manufacturing production if not carefully considered.
Sterile Preparations
Manufacturing sterile products covers a wide spectrum of decisions to be considered by the Quality team and manufacturing operations, including:
Sterile product types
Active substance
Sterile excipient
Packaging material
Finished dosage form
Packaging sizes
Single unit
Multiple units
Sterile processes
Automated systems
Manual processes
Technologies
Biotechnology
Small molecule manufacturing
Closed systems
Additionally, one of the quality assurance goals of sterile product manufacturing is to minimize risk associated with microbial, particulate, and pyrogen contamination.
Process Design
Contamination sources are the focus of process design and are commonly due to microbial and cellular debris, as well as particulate matter. Understanding how your facility, equipment and employees contribute to uncleanness (whether intentional or not) is essential to contamination control. Lastly, process design should consider each contamination source individually and as a whole to achieve regulatory compliance.
Manufacturing Plant
The facility your product is manufactured in is the first gap analysis that should be conducted. For example, a food manufacturing plant will have a different set of needs to be considered than a pharmaceutical manufacturing environment. Each will have unique requirements based on equipment, environment and process. Further, pharmaceutical production follows unique FDA guidance recommendations that are unlike many commercialized products on the market.
Cleanroom
One of the first priorities your team should understand is clean room classifications and differences in a regulated clean room environment. There are many types of cleanroom services that can help with clean room design and preparing for regulatory compliance (e.g. ISO 7 or ISO 8).
For example, cleanliness standards and cleanroom supplies should be maintained and monitored for environmental conditions. Finally, airlocks for both personnel and equipment should include HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) air filtration to increase air cleanliness and controls that reduce contaminants.
RABS
Restricted Area Barrier Systems (RABS) and isolators can help assure environmental conditions help minimize microbial contamination. Further, a reliable containment strategy should consider the types of human intervention that can impact the critical zone. This often goes hand-in-hand with the type of grade the zone is.
There are four primary types of critical zones:
Grade A: this area includes high risk operations that must consider air filtration, the aseptic processing line, and filling zone. Additionally, the stopper bowl, open ampoules and vials also must be studied based on contaminates & unidirectional air flow. Finally, process design & SOPs should minimize the number of operators who don’t use barrier protection or glove port
Grade B: this area is commonly a background cleanroom for Grade A aseptic preparation and filling zone. Most importantly, airflow visualization studies should show that air does not enter from any lower grade cleanrooms to Grade B. Air pressure differentials should be monitored to ensure clean airflow.
Grade C and D: These types of cleanroom spaces are used for lower risk manufacturing stages in the manufacturing process. The most often use class for Grade C and D are the preparation and filling of terminally sterilized
Finally, it is critically important when analyzing the grade of a zone when it comes to modular clean room or portable clean room designs. Make sure your cleanroom construction team understands the types of certified cleanroom principles that follow regulatory compliance.
Water Systems
A water treatment plant is one of the most critical elements of microbial process design. The water filter system should minimize both particulates and pyrogens to help reduce the potential for contamination. Further, special attention should be given to the different types of water filter products used & how they are monitored and maintained over time. Nevertheless, water flow should remain forceful & consistent through water filtration pipes to minimize microbial adhesion & the risks associated with biofilm formation.
Sterilizing Agent
When using a pure steam generator as a sterilizing agent, the design should be correctly purified. Additionally, these agents of sterilization should be designed & validated to confirm steam quality meets both chemical levels and endotoxin levels. For the same reason, measure your steam quality for any additional additives that can cause either contamination of your product or manufacturing equipment.
Central Vacuum System
Understanding when gases come into contact with the product or container surfaces is critical during process design. For example, here are process design concepts to validate proper chemical, particulate, and microbial quality:
Relevant parameters (e.g. oil and water content) should be specified in the documentation
Consider the use cases inside the facility & type of gas being used during the process
Respect the gas generation system & if the design complies with the Pharmacopoeia monograph
Gases used in aseptic processes should always be filtered through a sterilizing filter. If your sterilizing filter is used on a batch basis, consider integrity testing the results during batch certification. Finally, any backflow from vacuum systems or pressure systems can produce hazards to the product. Have your quality team consistently review the mechanisms that prevent backflow when the systems are shut down.
Hydraulic Systems
Manufacturing equipment connected by hydraulics or heating & cooling systems, when possible, should be preferably outside the filling room. Equally important, pump hydraulics or fluid hydraulics located in the filling room should include design controls to contain any spillage. Leaks from these types of systems could pose a contamination risk to the product that should be detectable.
Finally, incorporating an indication system can help monitor leakage scenarios where contamination can become an urgent problem. This can include manufacturing technology such as tank gauges, a tank level sensor, and advanced water level monitor functionality.
Regulatory Compliance Associates (RCA) has helped thousands of pharmaceutical companies meet regulatory, compliance, quality assurance, and remediation challenges. With more than 20 years of experience with FDA, Health Canada, EU and global regulatory agencies worldwide, Regulatory Compliance Associates® offers leading pharmaceutical consultants. We’re one of the few pharma consulting companies that can help you navigate the challenges associated with industry regulations.
Our pharmaceutical consulting firm includes over 500 seasoned FDA, Health Canada & EU compliance consultants and regulatory affairs experts who understand industry complexities. It’s a pharma consultancy founded by regulatory compliance executives from the pharmaceutical industry. Every pharmaceutical industry consultant on the Regulatory Compliance Associates team knows the unique inner workings of the regulatory process.
Client Solutions
Whether you’re in the product planning, development or pharmaceutical lifecycle management stage or need a remediation strategy for a compliance crisis, Regulatory Compliance Associates will guide you through every pharmaceutical consulting step of the regulatory process and create a customized approach depending on your product and your pharma company’s individual needs. Our regulatory compliance clients include:
Companies new to FDA, Health Canada or EU regulations and regulatory compliance
Start-up organizations with novel submissions to 510(k) submissions from multi-national corporations
Investment firms seeking private equity due diligence for pre-acquisition and post-deal research
Law firms seeking pharmaceutical consulting firm expertise in the remediation of warning letters, consent decrees, 483’s or import bans
Regulatory affairs is Regulatory Compliance Associates backbone. We exceed other pharma consulting companies with industry experts experienced in complexities of the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries. Our pharma consulting expertise spans all facets and levels of Regulatory Affairs, from Regulatory Support for New Products to Life Cycle Management, to other services like Outsourced Regulatory Affairs, Submissions, Training, and more.
As your partner, we can negotiate the potential assessment minefield of regulatory compliance services with insight, hindsight, and the clear advantage of our breadth and depth of knowledge and regulatory compliance consulting. We offer the following pharma consulting regulatory affairs services for pharmaceutical companies.
The regulations process surrounding pharmaceutical companies can be tricky for even the most experienced industry veteran to understand. Just one misstep could mean significant and lasting consequences for your business. At Regulatory Compliance Associates, we offer the pharma consulting experience and pharma consultants necessary to guide you through the quality compliance process.
Regulatory Compliance Associates Quality consulting includes assessments, strategy, implementations, staff augmentations, and identification of quality metrics to ensure continuous improvement. Our pharma consultants understand the strategic thinking needed to align your business needs and goals. Regulatory Compliance Associates quality assurance services include quality experts with experience spanning major corporations and start-ups. Our pharmaceutical consulting firm knows firsthand how to achieve, maintain, and improve quality, and we excel in transferring pharma consulting knowledge to your organization.
Regulatory Compliance Associates has a proven remediation services approach to managing FDA Warning Letters, Consent Decrees, Remediation and other serious regulatory situations. Our pharma consultants know how to partner with executive, legal, and communication teams. Each RCA pharma consulting Expert will develop a response that will be accepted by the regulatory agency and be realistic to execute.
Regulatory Compliance Associates pharma regulatory consultants will develop a comprehensive proof book of documented evidence demonstrating the corrective action taken to remediate non-compliant issues. In addition, each Regulatory Compliance Associates pharma consulting Expert understands compliance enforcement. We’ll prepare a comprehensive pharma consulting strategy to assist in your remediation efforts, drive continuous improvement, and maintain regulatory compliance with the regulations.
Regulatory Action
Regulatory Compliance
Regulatory Enforcement
Warning Letter
483 Observation
Oversight Services
Risk Management Plan
About Regulatory Compliance Associates
Regulatory Compliance Associates® (RCA) provides pharmaceutical consulting to the following industries for resolution of life science challenges:
We understand the complexities of running a life science business and possess areas of expertise that include every facet of R&D, operations, regulatory affairs, quality, and manufacturing. We are used to working on the front lines and thriving in the scrutiny of FDA, Health Canada, MHRA and globally-regulated companies.
As your partners, we can negotiate the potential minefield of regulatory compliance and regulatory due diligence with insight, hindsight, and the clear advantage of our unique expertise and experience.
Founded in 2000
Headquartered in Wisconsin (USA)
Expertise backed by over 500 industry subject matter experts
The name Sotera Health was inspired by Soteria, the Greek goddess of safety, and reflects the Company’s unwavering commitment to its mission, Safeguarding Global Health®.
Sotera Health Company, along with its three best-in-class businesses – Sterigenics®, Nordion® and Nelson Labs®, is a leading global provider of mission-critical end-to-end sterilization solutions and lab testing and advisory services for the healthcare industry. With a combined tenure across our businesses of nearly 200 years and our industry-recognized scientific and technological expertise, we help to ensure the safety of over 190 million patients and healthcare practitioners around the world every year.
We are a trusted partner to 5,800+ customers in over 50 countries, including 40 of the top 50 medical device companies and 9 of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies.
Commitment to Quality
Our Certificate of Registration demonstrates that our Quality Management System meets the requirements of ISO 9001:2015, an internationally recognized standard of quality.
To begin the Regulatory Compliance Associates scoping process today, please enter your information in the blue form below and click the submit button at the bottom of the webpage.
Click to watch Regulatory Compliance Associates medical device consultant, Dr. Stephen Coulter, discuss the common tools & processes used during product development. Early stages of new product development include analyzing user needs & translating design benefits into long-term patient efficacy.
Developing an original product idea is difficult but many common tools & processes are consistently used. The early stages of product development include analyzing user needs and how those translate into design inputs.
Product Development Strategy
Ideation and product development life cycle research can help you identify user needs. Additionally, increasing the quality of an existing product is often a successful new product development strategy. Your solution doesn’t have to be a radically new idea.
Does it have a substitute product that can take market share? Or, can you combine the features of multiple products during the product design process to make a combination product that patients prefer more? Could a product design consultant help answer these questions & provide knowledge transfer?
Product Development Cycle
Start by asking your cross-functional team an initial question: “What do we need to change to achieve success during the product development cycle?”. Product development strategy includes modifying existing systems & processes to accelerate efficiency. Refine your model or process based on the unique types of product solutions in your pipeline.
Product Research
Being able to understand & explain why your solution addresses a user needs statement is inherent to launch sales success. Interactive activities can be useful for improving creative conversation during market development strategy sessions. Further, voice of the customer (VOC) research consistently helps target the patient population in mind.
Finally, using VOC to identify early adopter audiences & the audience’s most important needs can increase early interest in your solution. Begin the sales process by determining core messaging ahead of the launch ramp-up based on device claims & if the regulatory submission is approved.
Market Development Strategy
User needs are the foundation of any successful market development strategy. Yet, being able to commercialize a new solution based on user needs using a team experiencing process problems is never an easy task. It requires the Engineering Team & Operations Team at the listening table earlier in the process than later.
Product Design and Development
A critical to quality objective early in the new product development process is removing everything but the essentials. Research your users needs to create design inputs for a product that patients both need & generates revenue.
Product Planning Process
After a business case is determined in the waterfall method, the product planning process begins cross functionally to validate product ideas via new product development research. What user needs will accelerate a successful product launch the fastest?
Innovative product design means addressing honest opinions from your target audience to validate your medical device solves a problem. The product development management team must be convinced the product can win in the commercial marketplace sooner rather than later.
Software Product Design
Success during the launch of a software as a medical device is often found at the heart of the product development plan. Any new product design must incorporate value added for the audience in one way, shape or form. This can include lean product design as some of the most effective software in the industry is not complicated.
Software as a Medical Device
Consider the regulatory differences between a tangible product and a technology product very carefully. For example, Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) has changed the marketplace by increasing both clinical research success & primary care delivery. Include process improvement sessions during internal meetings where a collective group deciphers what the user need statements mean to their team.
Agile Product Development
The vision for development begins with a minimum viable product, or MVP, during early software conceptualization & development; what is the business case of commercialization? How do we learn faster while making real time efficiency changes?
Digital Product Development
Product development teams must answer several questions before undertaking product design. Further, one focal ask is are successful processes already in place for medical product development.
Do you have a RACI chart to show who is responsible, accountable, considered, and informed? Finally, a clear cross-functional understanding of timelines & milestones can help guide expectations during MVP product development, which can be stressful based on the speed of common work.
MVP Agile
MVP (Minimum Viable Product) a widely accepted concept in software development in digital product development. However, our medical product design discussion will take a different direction – what is the regulatory affairs process?
A project management software development team should deliver a safe, efficacious solution with the objective of delivering patient value. Define your value through a regulatory strategy based on device claims, clinical evidence, and how both help the patient population.
Regulatory Compliance
Software as a medical device involves regulatory compliance based on multiple, widely accepted global standards.
This includes:
ISO 13485
IEC 62304
IEC 62366
ISO 14791
The product development engineering team is responsible for the software process. Any prototype development assistance should begin with a regulatory compliance perspective of claims and predicate devices.
Prototype predicate concepts begin with identifying the current risk class & why use cases help validate your proposed risk class during regulatory submission. Finally, consider younger product developers who may have never been through regulatory approval in their career. FDA readiness training can be a powerful tool that increases marketing approval & how to carefully identify and isolate risk hazards.
Regulatory Pathway
Planning the build for a product requires a regulatory pathway that includes risk management considerations based on the risk class. Create as much detail as possible during this prototyping and design inputs phase of NPD.
Product development companies, like Regulatory Compliance Associates, can help identify the correct predicate device based on a risk gap analysis. Diagrams should include material ingredients that need to be sourced to create the product. This can help you determine the risk category of the product (e.g. patient daily use, HCP specialty use, etc.) and corresponding patient hazards.
About RCA’s Medical Device Consulting Services
The regulatory compliance process surrounding the medical device industry involves a strict adherence to pre/post market information throughout a device’s life cycle. Even a single compliance issue you have can turn into a significant effect on your business. Regulatory Compliance Associates can help guide you through any stage of the medical device consulting process, with capabilities during product development through the regulatory clearance/approval of your product.
Our team of over 500 medical device consulting Experts — including former FDA officials and regulatory compliance leaders in the field of medical device regulation — will work with your company to create a quality assurance and regulatory compliance approach tailored to your products and regulatory needs. Regulatory Compliance Associates works with international Fortune 100 companies, venture capital start ups, and companies of all sizes and shapes. Our regulatory compliance solutions for law firms include remediation for warning letters, FDA 483’s, import bans or consent decrees. Very few regulatory compliance services have the same regulatory compliance expertise in a variety of medical fields.
For medical device manufacturers, technology can be a double-edged sword. The innovative technologies that elevate the quality of life for patients can also be used to potentially undermine the organization using the device. The consequences can affect the device itself if Regulatory Compliance Associates medtech consultants do not implement good IoT cybersecurity and FDA cybersecurity protocols.
At Regulatory Compliance Associates, we offer a wide variety of services for medical devices security to help ensure that your product is protected from cyber-attacks. With a well-planned design, along with full visibility of product development and the supply chain, Regulatory Compliance Associates medical device consultant Experts can help strengthen your device’s cybersecurity. We partner with medical device companies in each phase of the design cycle. The RCA medical device consulting team understands protecting inputs from threat exposure and hardening outputs for regulatory compliance & FDA submission approval.
Regulatory affairs is Regulatory Compliance Associates® backbone. We handle more regulatory consulting submissions in a month than many manufacturers do in a lifetime. Our regulatory compliance consulting Experts have experience working with the FDA, global regulatory bodies and / or agencies, and notified bodies worldwide. Therefore, you can count on us for in-depth and up-to-date insights which increase speed-to-market.
As a trusted regulatory affairs consultant, our FDA veterans and regulatory consulting team represents Regulatory Compliance Associates® as one of the top medical device consulting firms. We’lll help you navigate the medical device consulting difficulties associated with new product submissions. Regulatory Compliance Associates® medical device consulting company has expertise in both the approval process and post-approval support.
Increasingly, life science companies are feeling the pressure of greater scrutiny by regulators, and responding by developing sustainable compliance strategies. Whether it’s preparing for an audit, developing a response to an FDA finding, or remediation to an adverse event, Regulatory Compliance Associates® can help.
Our network of over 500 medical device consultant & FDA, MHRA & EMA veterans are industry professionals offers a unique blend of expertise. This allows Regulatory Compliance Associates® to handle both simple and complex regulatory compliance challenges within medical device consulting companies.
Regulatory Compliance Associates® is globally reknown for quality assurance services, including quality system assessments, strategy, implementations, and quality metrics to ensure continuous improvement. Each Regulatory Compliance Associates® medical device consultant is a quality expert with experience spanning major corporations and start-ups. RCA’s quality assurance services experts know firsthand how to achieve, maintain, and improve quality, and we excel in transferring this knowledge to your organization.
In the medical devices field, quality assurance (QA) is more than merely ensuring the quality of a finished product. You need the tools to monitor and regulate every process from the design of a new product to continued quality compliance as the device is sent to market. At Regulatory Compliance Associates®, we offer you the quality assurance services you need to monitor these processes and ensure quality compliance every step of the way.
With more than 20 years experience working with medical device consulting companies, Regulatory Compliance Associates® trusted medical device quality assurance consultant team is fully equipped to handle your unique QA needs.
Regulatory Compliance Associates® is widely recognized within medical device consulting companies & the life science industry for our remediation services & support. Regulatory Compliance Associates® ability to help companies successfully resolve complex regulatory challenges have a proven track record of success. Our medical device consulting services include significant experience with the development of responses to 483 Observations, Warning Letters, Untitled Letters and Consent Decrees.
Regulatory Action
Regulatory Compliance
Regulatory Enforcement
Warning Letter
483 Observation
Oversight Services
Our value goes beyond the initial response by helping companies successfully execute their action plans, develop an improved compliance culture tailored to the needs of their business, and ultimately move beyond the regulatory action to emerge as a stronger business. We negotiate difficult demands of remediation with insight and the clear advantage of our medical device consultant expertise and experience that makes partnering with Regulatory Compliance Associates® a competitive differentiator in the remediation space.
Whether it’s a strategy, a technical plan, or project, Regulatory Compliance Associates® medical device consultancy can help ensure a successful project. Regulatory Compliance Associates® due diligence consulting can deliver your project on time, on budget, and you’re never embroiled in a costly mistake.
Our medical device consultant Experts are industry Experts are here to provide the unique insight you need before an M&A deal, through a staffing crisis and in every area of your product’s development and life cycle. As the trusted medical device manufacturing consultants of thousands of companies around the world, we have the knowledge and expertise needed to deliver exceptional results to your business — no matter your size or unique needs.
Manufacturing Optimization
Product Lifecycle Management
Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)
Due Diligence
Device Vigilance
Risk Management Plan
Product Complaints
Medical Information
About Regulatory Compliance Associates
Regulatory Compliance Associates® (RCA) provides medical device consulting to the following industries for resolution of life science challenges:
We understand the complexities of running a life science business and possess areas of expertise that include every facet of R&D, operations, regulatory affairs, quality, and manufacturing. We are used to working on the front lines and thriving in the scrutiny of FDA, Health Canada, MHRA and globally-regulated companies.
As your partners, Regulatory Compliance Associates can negotiate the potential minefield of regulatory compliance and regulatory due diligence with insight, hindsight, and the clear advantage of our unique expertise and experience.
Founded in 2000
Headquartered in Wisconsin (USA)
Expertise backed by over 500 industry subject matter experts
The name Sotera Health was inspired by Soteria, the Greek goddess of safety, and reflects the Company’s unwavering commitment to its mission, Safeguarding Global Health®.
Sotera Health Company, along with its three best-in-class businesses – Sterigenics®, Nordion® and Nelson Labs®, is a leading global provider of mission-critical end-to-end sterilization solutions and lab testing and advisory services for the healthcare industry. With a combined tenure across our businesses of nearly 200 years and our industry-recognized scientific and technological expertise, we help to ensure the safety of over 190 million patients and healthcare practitioners around the world every year.
We are a trusted partner to more than 5,800 customers in over 50 countries, including 40 of the top 50 medical device companies and 8 of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies.
Commitment to Quality
Our Certificate of Registration demonstrates that our Quality Management System meets the requirements of ISO 9001:2015, an internationally recognized standard of quality.
To begin the Regulatory Compliance Associates® scoping process today, please enter your information in the blue form below and click the submit button at the bottom of the webpage.
The International Medical Device Regulation Forum (IMDRF) recently published updated cybersecurity guidance for the medical device industry. The medical device cybersecurity working groups at IMDRF have been busy lately, publishing multiple final documents about medical devices & software as medical device (SaMD).
Regulatory Compliance
IMDRF’s medical device guidance provides steering assumptions for both regulatory compliance & medical device cybersecurity, which are appropriate for sponsors developing medical devices. Further, a primary objective of the guidance is simultaneously increasing patient safety & reducing external threats for providers and HCPs.
Global Harmonization
The guidance begins with harmonization concepts that could affect multiple departments inside a medical device manufacturer. Additionally, key areas for harmonization programs highlighted by the cybersecurity guidance include:
Product design
Risk management activities
Device labelling
Regulatory submission
Information sharing
Post-market activities
Product Life Cycle (PLC)
IMDRF’s cybersecurity guidance continues on with a deeper evaluation of risks associated across the product life cycle. It is recommended for potential vulnerabilities to be considered for any product life cycle stage, especially considering legacy devices that may be vulnerable to strategic risk.
Product Design
Product design considerations include the initial phases of medical device development and continues until the end of support (EOS) once a product is discontinued. The four product design stages the cybersecurity guidance refers to when it comes to total product life cycle:
Development Stage
Support Stage
Limited Stage
End of Support
Development Stage (Stage 1)
The Development Stage occurs during the pre-commercialization phase before a medical device is approved by a regulatory body. This is when medical device manufacturers begin to incorporate security into the product concepts being designed. Design controls are critical in this stage for medical device manufacturers to leverage when considering how to mitigate risks.
Finally, an important deliverable of the Development Stage is product-related security documentation. The documentation is designed to help unfamiliar users to understand how to securely operate the medical device.
Support Stage (Stage 2)
The Support stage is during the initial post-launch phase and may continue for many years. Medical devices in this stage are:
Currently used for providing patient care
Available for purchase on the open market
Contain major software, firmware, or programmable hardware components
Support for software, firmware or components is provided by the medical device manufacturer
Additionally, medical devices in the Support stage should receive full cybersecurity support. This support often includes software patches, software updates, hardware updates, and incremental support the manufacturer considers appropriate.
Limited Support Stage (Stage 3)
Medical device manufacturers continue to provide cybersecurity support during Stage 3. However, as product development transitions to a more current medical device design, different constraints are involved with the transition. Medical devices in Stage 3 often require additional network controls compared to medical devices in Stage 2:
Third-party components or software may be used more frequently than internally developed updates or patches
Cybersecurity best practices integration is often governed by the ease of following support practices outlined in the Stage 2
Medical device manufacturers must explain to users the existing limitations that are now recognized in the devices and services affected
Healthcare providers using the medical device should begin to take more of an active role in unmitigated features of security defense.
End of Support Stage (Stage 4)
Medical devices in Stage 4 are considered more vulnerable than any of the other stages. They may still be in use for providing patient care, but they have been publicly identified as no longer being supported by the medical device manufacturer. Each of these scenarios result in a medical device that cannot be consistently defended against modern cybersecurity dangers.
Critical facets healthcare information technology departments should look for include:
Medical devices that have been declared EOS by the medical device manufacturer
Medical devices that are not actively marketed or sold by the medical device manufacturer
Medical devices that contain software, firmware, or programmable hardware components no longer supported by software developers
Medical devices with known risks to device safety and effectiveness that are unmitigated
Risk Management
Further, the guidance calls for a risk management approach to product lifecycle management featuring:
Security risk analysis
Security risk evaluation
Security risk control
Security risk acceptability
The cybersecurity guidance expands on product design and how security is incorporated and maintained through the product life cycle. This can be accomplished through using risk control and a secure development framework.
Risk mitigation recommendations for medical device manufacturers include:
Security design and controls based on intended use of the medical device
Security risk assessments across the risk management process
Threat modelling to help determine operational risk
Security testing and communication for medical device manufacturers include:
Customer facing product security documentation & communication
Post-market monitoring of cybersecurity vulnerabilities
Identification of vulnerabilities in third party risk management
Vulnerability risk identification based on the device security design, controls, and mitigations
Ensuring availability of security patches & mitigations based on device risk:
Coordinated and clear communication to all affected users
Description related to the vulnerability and its corresponding mitigations
Identification of other mitigation options when a security patch is unavailable
Data Integrity
One of the core principles the guidance stresses is cybersecurity information, data integrity and the importance of information sharing. IMDRF encourages medical device industry stakeholders to implement a proactive pre- and post-market approach to cybersecurity information sharing.
Moreover, timely information can help the industry recognize threats, evaluate associated risks, and react quickly as needed. An increase in industry transparency could directly benefit healthcare providers, medical device users and medical device companies.
Security Updates
An important section of the medical device cybersecurity guidance details stakeholder responsibilities related communications, risk management, and transfer of responsibility. Specifically, it is important that medical device manufacturer communications are comprehensive & identify types of documentation needed and when the medical device user may need it.
Product Security Documentation
Medical device manufacturers should ideally provide PLC documentation about security or support changes early in the Support stage. This helps HCP risk management during both the procurement & deployment of medical devices. Types of life cycle support for product security documentation includes:
Manufacturer disclosure statement for medical device security
Software Bill of Materials (SBOM)
Security test report summaries
Third-party security certifications
Customer security documentation
Product Life Cycle Documentation
Medical device companies should communicate the strategic life cycle milestones to their customers. Further, these interactions would include cybersecurity EOL and EOS dates if available. This helps to support HCPs during both the procurement & installation process.
Additionally, medical device manufacturers should provide this information as far in advance as possible. The goal is at least 2 years in advance to best support healthcare professionals with the following information:
Affected medical devices
Medical device operating system(s)
Version of medical device deployed
Medical device software components
Expected date of medical device service changes
Extent of medical device maintenance after a service change occurs
Additional design controls that help all involves parties
Vulnerability & Patching Information
If a vulnerability is uncovered, medical device companies should provide related vulnerability information. Further, the guidance specifically mentions the importance of both the appropriate mitigation or available software patch. Additionally, the guidance stresses an elevated priority be placed on high-risk vulnerabilities where timely communication is required. This communication is designed to help prevent both patient injury or device interruption.
Finally, the mitigation method and implementation instructions should be provided to the medical device operators. These security updates include both an over-air update or deployment of service personnel to help install the remedy.
Proactive Communications for Third-Party Components
Medical device software and other digital components within a medical device will reach EOL/EOS before the product itself does. In these cases, risk can increase based on the lack of support for these elements. To help compensate for these security risks, the cybersecurity guidance suggests medical device companies should:
Validate the list of third-party components used in medical devices
Track support status updates of third-party components used within their device
Assess the risks that exist when third-party components become unsupported
Communicate new risks and available risk mitigations to healthcare providers
To begin the Regulatory Compliance Associates scoping process today, please enter your information in the blue form below and click the submit button at the bottom of the webpage. You may also email us at [email protected].
In this soundbite from RCA Radio, Dr. Helin Raagel and Dr. Matthew Jorgensen from Nelson Labs explain biocompatibility testing. This includes the risk-based biocompatibility evaluation that medical devices go through before they receive regulatory approval.
This biocompatibility risk-based approach evaluates the risk of the device through consideration of the device’s cytotoxicity, irritation, and sensitization.
Cytotoxicity – Will the device kill or harm the cells it comes in contact with?
Irritation – Will the device make contact with the patient and cause skin irritation? (Redness and/or Swelling)
Sensitization – Will the device cause an allergic reaction?
The regulatory compliance process surrounding the medical device industry involves a strict adherence to pre/post market information throughout a device’s life cycle. Even a single compliance issue you have can turn into a significant effect on your business. Regulatory Compliance Associates can help guide you through any stage of the medical device consulting process, with capabilities during product development through the regulatory clearance/approval of your product.
Our team of over 500 medical device consulting Experts — including former FDA officials and regulatory compliance leaders in the field of medical device regulation — will work with your company to create a quality assurance and regulatory compliance approach tailored to your products and regulatory needs. Regulatory Compliance Associates works with international Fortune 100 companies, venture capital start ups, and companies of all sizes and shapes. our compliance enforcement solutions for law firms include remediation for warning letters, FDA 483’s, import bans or consent decrees. Very few regulatory compliance services have the same regulatory compliance expertise in a variety of medical fields.
For medical device manufacturers, technology can be a double-edged sword. The innovative technologies that elevate the quality of life for patients can also be used to potentially undermine the organization using the device. The consequences can affect the device itself if Regulatory Compliance Associates medtech consultants do not implement good IoT cybersecurity and FDA cybersecurity protocols.
At Regulatory Compliance Associates, we offer a wide variety of services for medical devices security to help ensure that your product is protected from cyber-attacks. With a well-planned design, along with full visibility of product development and the supply chain, Regulatory Compliance Associates medical device consultant Experts can help strengthen your device’s cybersecurity. We partner with medical device companies in each phase of the design cycle, including protecting inputs from threat exposure and hardening outputs for regulatory compliance & FDA submission approval of your medical technology.
Regulatory affairs is Regulatory Compliance Associates® backbone, and we handle more submissions in a month than many manufacturers do in a lifetime. Our regulatory compliance consulting Experts have experience working with the FDA, global regulatory bodies and / or agencies, and notified bodies worldwide. Therefore, you can count on us for in-depth and up-to-date insights which increase speed-to-market.
As a trusted regulatory affairs consultant, our FDA veterans and industry experts represent Regulatory Compliance Associates® as one of the top medical device consulting firms. We’re here to help you navigate the difficulties associated with new product submissions. Regulatory Compliance Associates® medical device consulting company has expertise in both the approval process and post-approval support.
Increasingly, life science companies are feeling the pressure of greater scrutiny by regulators, and responding by developing sustainable compliance strategies. Whether it’s preparing for an audit, developing a response to an FDA finding, or remediation to an adverse event, Regulatory Compliance Associates® can help.
Our network of over 500 medical device consultant & FDA, MHRA & EMA veterans are industry professionals offers a unique blend of expertise. This allows Regulatory Compliance Associates® to handle both simple and complex regulatory compliance challenges within medical device consulting companies.
Regulatory Compliance Associates® Quality Assurance consulting includes quality system assessments, strategy, implementations, and identification of quality metrics to ensure continuous improvement, aligning with your business needs and goals. Each Regulatory Compliance Associates® medical device consultant is a quality expert with experience spanning major corporations and start-ups. We know firsthand how to achieve, maintain, and improve quality, and we excel in transferring this knowledge to your organization.
In the medical devices field, quality assurance (QA) is more than merely ensuring the quality of a finished product. You need the tools to monitor and regulate every process from the design of a new product to continued quality compliance as the device is sent to market. At Regulatory Compliance Associates®, we offer you the quality assurance services you need to monitor these processes and ensure quality compliance every step of the way.
With more than 20 years experience working with medical device consulting companies, Regulatory Compliance Associates® trusted medical device quality assurance consultant team is fully equipped to handle your unique QA needs.
Regulatory Compliance Associates® is widely recognized within medical device consulting companies & the life science industry for our remediation services & support. Regulatory Compliance Associates® ability to help companies successfully resolve complex regulatory challenges have a proven track record of success. Our medical device consulting services include significant experience with the development of responses to 483 Observations, Warning Letters, Untitled Letters and Consent Decrees.
Regulatory Action
Regulatory Compliance
Regulatory Enforcement
Warning Letter
483 Observation
Oversight Services
Our value goes beyond the initial response by helping companies successfully execute their action plans, develop an improved compliance culture tailored to the needs of their business, and ultimately move beyond the regulatory action to emerge as a stronger business. We negotiate difficult demands of remediation with insight and the clear advantage of our medical device consultant expertise and experience that makes partnering with Regulatory Compliance Associates® a competitive differentiator in the remediation space.
Whether it’s a strategy, a technical plan, or project, Regulatory Compliance Associates® medical device consultancy can help ensure a successful project. Regulatory Compliance Associates® medical device strategy consulting can deliver your project on time, on budget, and you’re never embroiled in a costly mistake.
Our medical device consultant Experts are industry Experts are here to provide the unique insight you need before an M&A deal, through a staffing crisis and in every area of your product’s development and life cycle. As the trusted medical device manufacturing consultants of thousands of companies around the world, we have the knowledge and expertise needed to deliver exceptional results to your business — no matter your size or unique needs.
Manufacturing Optimization
Product Lifecycle Management
Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)
Due Diligence
Device Vigilance
Risk Management Plan
Product Complaints
Medical Information
About Regulatory Compliance Associates
Regulatory Compliance Associates® (RCA) provides medical device consulting to the following industries for resolution of life science challenges:
We understand the complexities of running a life science business and possess areas of expertise that include every facet of R&D, operations, regulatory affairs, quality, and manufacturing. We are used to working on the front lines and thriving in the scrutiny of FDA, Health Canada, MHRA and globally-regulated companies.
As your partners, we can negotiate the potential minefield of regulatory compliance and regulatory due diligence with insight, hindsight, and the clear advantage of our unique expertise and experience.
Founded in 2000
Headquartered in Wisconsin (USA)
Expertise backed by over 500 industry subject matter experts
The name Sotera Health was inspired by Soteria, the Greek goddess of safety, and reflects the Company’s unwavering commitment to its mission, Safeguarding Global Health®.
Sotera Health Company, along with its three best-in-class businesses – Sterigenics®, Nordion® and Nelson Labs®, is a leading global provider of mission-critical end-to-end sterilization solutions and lab testing and advisory services for the healthcare industry. With a combined tenure across our businesses of nearly 200 years and our industry-recognized scientific and technological expertise, we help to ensure the safety of over 190 million patients and healthcare practitioners around the world every year.
We are a trusted partner to more than 5,800 customers in over 50 countries, including 40 of the top 50 medical device companies and 8 of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies.
Commitment to Quality
Our Certificate of Registration demonstrates that our Quality Management System meets the requirements of ISO 9001:2015, an internationally recognized standard of quality.
To begin the Regulatory Compliance Associates® scoping process today, please enter your information in the blue form below and click the submit button at the bottom of the webpage.
The FDA harmonization team has recently announced it is no longer going to be a member of the Global Harmonization Working Party (GHWP). This comes as an eye-opener for many life science industry employees since FDA harmonization has been a visible priority since the agency joined GHWP in 2021.
The FDA stated that it will continue to work with global regulatory experts on international harmonization, with the primary partner being the International Medical Device Regulators Forum (IMDRF).
Food and Drug Administration
Some industry executives have asked the question why take this type of action now? One primary reason many life science industry experts believe the time is right is based on the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) strategic plan launched in late 2023. Inside the details of the document, the Food and Drug authority laid out a four-year example timeline for working towards greater international harmonization.
These are a few of the initiatives listed to be achieved by FY 2027:
FDA Timeline
Each fiscal year, CDRH will now evaluate different types of opportunities to increase engagement across international harmonization programs. Further, it is anticipated that CDRH will receive additional funding and resources to help accelerate this engagement. These additional resources will be designed to allow the FDA to expand international harmonization and convergence programs already in progress.
Best Practices
The second phase of the strategic plan is designed to increase discussions about the implementation of harmonized policies. Further, this new mechanism may require FDA to develop additional confidentiality agreements to increase the efficiency of research analysis & discussion under confidentiality commitments. CDRH will review the current list of approved regulatory partners and confidentiality protocols in place to align regulatory strategies across international agencies.
Medical Research
Per the strategic plan, FDA will identify and begin engaging with regulatory authorities by the end of 2023. The primary objective is to create a database of regulatory bodies with whom sharing medical research could be most helpful toward the global harmonization of standards. Finally, CDRH has committed to creating this information-sharing mechanism to communicate best practices in medical device evaluation by the end of 2024.
Technical Documents
The strategic plan goes on to elaborate on how CDRH’s regulatory policy compares to widely accepted IMDRF policies. Furthermore, technical specifications of IMDRF documents that include policies and practices approved by all regulatory authorities in the IMDRF Management Committee will be assessed and evaluated by FDA.
One goal of this regulatory process is to increase the understanding of technical description and technical report writing of international regulatory agencies. This will directly help CDRH with their internal assessment of international harmonization efforts, and how FDA’s process may differ in comparison to regulators around the world.
FDA Analysis
Based on the technical specification data listed in the strategic plan, these are the proposed timelines for CDRH to make advances toward global harmonization:
CDRH will publish an assessment of at least nine IMDRF technical documents by the end of 2025.
CDRH will publish an assessment of at least 18 IMDRF technical documents by the end of FY 2026.
CDRH will publish an assessment of all remaining IMDRF technical documents by the end of FY 2027
Regulatory Authority
The strategic plan continues to elaborate on the life science community and the impact non-FDA employees can have on future regulatory approval. These specific stakeholders may have a unique perspective based on their current occupation or the types of therapy a patient receives. Finally, the following audiences are specifically mentioned for providing first-hand experiences that FDA can leverage based on another regulatory authority’s approach to medical therapy.
Healthcare patients
Life science manufacturers
Conformity assessment bodies
Standards development organizations
Patient Engagement
Finally, an annual communication plan is proposed to begin in 2024 that includes developing a forum to assess and report on harmonization program efforts in progress. This forum will be designed to connect with each of the audiences mentioned above to help FDA identify opportunities for learning. Furthermore, this forum would be dependent on the level of interest and considerations of other stakeholders, including the life sciences industry specifically.
About RCA’s Pharmaceutical Consulting Services
Regulatory Compliance Associates (RCA) has helped thousands of pharmaceutical companies meet regulatory, compliance, quality assurance, and remediation challenges. With more than 20 years of experience with FDA, Health Canada, EU and global regulatory agencies worldwide, Regulatory Compliance Associates® offers leading pharmaceutical consultants. We’re one of the few pharma consulting companies that can help you navigate the challenges associated with industry regulations.
Our pharmaceutical consulting firm includes over 500 seasoned FDA, Health Canada & EU compliance consultants and regulatory affairs experts who understand industry complexities. It’s a pharma consultancy founded by regulatory compliance executives from the pharmaceutical industry. Every pharmaceutical industry consultant on the Regulatory Compliance Associates team knows the unique inner workings of the regulatory process.
Client Solutions
Whether you’re in the product planning, development or pharmaceutical lifecycle management stage or need a remediation strategy for a compliance crisis, Regulatory Compliance Associates will guide you through every pharmaceutical consulting step of the regulatory process. Our pharmaceutical consulting Experts will create a customized approach depending on your product and company’s individual needs. Our regulatory compliance clients include:
Companies new to FDA, Health Canada or EU regulations and regulatory compliance
Start-up organizations with novel submissions to 510(k) submissions from multi-national corporations
Investment firms seeking private equity due diligence for pre-acquisition and post-deal research
Law firms seeking pharmaceutical consulting firm expertise in the remediation of warning letters, consent decrees, 483’s or import bans
Regulatory affairs is Regulatory Compliance Associates backbone. We exceed other pharma consulting companies with industry experts experienced in complexities of the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries. Our pharma consulting expertise spans all facets and levels of Regulatory Affairs. Additionally, we specialize in Regulatory Support for New Products to Life Cycle Management, Outsourced Regulatory Affairs, Submissions, Training, and more.
As your partner, we can negotiate the potential assessment minefield of regulatory compliance services with insight, hindsight, and the clear advantage of our breadth and depth of knowledge and regulatory compliance consulting. We offer the following pharma consulting regulatory affairs services for pharmaceutical companies.
The regulations process surrounding pharmaceutical companies can be tricky for even the most experienced industry veteran to understand. Just one misstep could mean significant and lasting consequences for your business. At Regulatory Compliance Associates, we offer the pharma consulting experience and pharma consultants necessary to guide you through the quality compliance process.
Regulatory Compliance Associates Quality consulting includes assessments, strategy, implementations, staff augmentations, and identification of quality metrics to ensure continuous improvement. Our pharma consultants understand the strategic thinking needed to align your business needs and goals. Regulatory Compliance Associates quality assurance services include quality experts with experience spanning major corporations and start-ups. Our pharmaceutical consulting firm knows firsthand how to achieve, maintain, and improve quality. Finally, our regulatory compliance services team excels in transferring continuous improvement knowledge to your organization.
Regulatory Compliance Associates has a proven remediation services approach to managing FDA Warning Letters, Consent Decrees, Remediation and other serious regulatory situations. Our pharma consultants know how to partner with executive, legal, and communication teams. Each RCA pharma consulting Expert will develop a response that will be accepted by the regulatory agency and be realistic to execute.
Regulatory Compliance Associates pharma regulatory consultants will develop a comprehensive proof book of documented evidence demonstrating the corrective action taken to remediate non-compliant issues. In addition, each Regulatory Compliance Associates pharma consulting Expert understands compliance enforcement. We’ll prepare a comprehensive pharma consulting strategy to assist in your remediation efforts, drive continuous improvement, and maintain regulatory compliance with the regulations.
Regulatory Action
Regulatory Compliance
Regulatory Enforcement
Warning Letter
483 Observation
Oversight Services
Risk Management Plan
About Regulatory Compliance Associates
Regulatory Compliance Associates® (RCA) provides pharmaceutical consulting to the following industries for resolution of life science challenges:
We understand the complexities of running a life science business and possess areas of expertise that include every facet of R&D, operations, regulatory affairs, quality, and manufacturing. We are used to working on the front lines and thriving in the scrutiny of FDA, Health Canada, MHRA and globally-regulated companies.
As your partners, Regulatory Compliance Associates can negotiate the potential minefield of regulatory compliance and regulatory due diligence with insight, hindsight, and the clear advantage of our unique expertise and experience.
Founded in 2000
Headquartered in Wisconsin (USA)
Expertise backed by over 500 industry subject matter experts
The name Sotera Health was inspired by Soteria, the Greek goddess of safety, and reflects the Company’s unwavering commitment to its mission, Safeguarding Global Health®.
Sotera Health Company, along with its three best-in-class businesses – Sterigenics®, Nordion® and Nelson Labs®, is a leading global provider of mission-critical end-to-end sterilization solutions and lab testing and advisory services for the healthcare industry. With a combined tenure across our businesses of nearly 200 years and our industry-recognized scientific and technological expertise, we help to ensure the safety of over 190 million patients and healthcare practitioners around the world every year.
We are a trusted partner to 5,800+ customers in over 50 countries, including 40 of the top 50 medical device companies and 9 of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies.
Commitment to Quality
Our Certificate of Registration demonstrates that our Quality Management System meets the requirements of ISO 9001:2015, an internationally recognized standard of quality.
To begin the Regulatory Compliance Associates scoping process today, please enter your information in the blue form below and click the submit button at the bottom of the webpage.
To be successful in the field of manufacturing, you must have a proper project management plan in place. Not only do project management procedures keep your projects on time and on schedule, but they also ensure your devices’ compliance with stringent national and international regulations. RCA can help you develop an effective plan, and we can even lead these tasks so that you can run more projects at one time more efficiently.
Regulatory Compliance Associates® (
Regulatory Compliance Associates® (
The FDA harmonization team has recently announced it is no longer going to be a member of the Global Harmonization Working Party (GHWP). This comes as an eye-opener for many life science industry employees since FDA harmonization has been a visible priority since the agency joined GHWP in 2021.