Xlumena, a privately held provider of innovative technology for gastroenterologists/interventional endoscopists, announced it has received clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its NAVIX™ Access Device. The NAVIX™ Device is an advanced endoscopy system, consisting of a multi-lumen catheter with a trocar, anchor and dilation balloons and two guidewire ports, designed to enable secure access, dilation and delivery of guidewires for pseudocyst and abscess drainage procedures.

“We are pleased to introduce the NAVIX™ Access Device, the first in a line of revolutionary products under development, based on Xlumena’s Advanced Translumenal Therapy™ technology,” said Michael Allen, President and CEO of Xlumena. “We believe this is an important first step in providing the interventional endoscopist with innovative tools that will enable a broader reach within the specialty and take interventional endoscopy to a new therapeutic level.”

Kenneth Binmoeller, M.D., Medical Director at the Interventional Endoscopy Center at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, Calif. added: “Xlumena has accurately identified some of the technical challenges, the interventional endoscopists are struggling with, and is developing simple, elegant solutions with products such as the NAVIX™ Access Device.

Xlumena will initially make the NAVIX™ Access Device available to a select number of interventional endoscopy centers across the US. The clearance follows the Xlumena AXIOS™ translumenal gallbladder stent and delivery system receiving a humanitarian use designation by the FDA. FDA clearance for the AXIOS™ stent and delivery system is pending.

Xlumena will host a Tech Suite at the Digestive Diseases Week (DDW) meeting in New Orleans, LA on May 2-6, 2010 to showcase the NAVIX™ and other Advanced Translumenal Therapy™ platforms to invited partners and physicians.

Source: Xlumena, Inc

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first medical device that uses radiofrequency energy to treat severe and persistent asthma in certain adults.

The Alair Bronchial Thermoplasty System is intended for patients ages 18 and older whose severe and persistent asthma is not well-controlled with inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting beta agonist medications.

The device is composed of a catheter with an electrode tip that delivers a form of electromagnetic energy, called radiofrequency energy, directly to the airways. A controller unit generates and controls the energy.

Inflammation causes the airways of people who have asthma to swell and narrow, making breathing difficult. The Alair system treats asthma symptoms by using radiofrequency energy to heat the lung tissue in a controlled manner, reducing the thickness of smooth muscle in the airways and improving a patient’s ability to breathe. To benefit, patients will require multiple sessions targeting different areas in the lungs.

“The approval of the Alair system provides adult patients suffering from severe and persistent asthma with an additional treatment option for a disease that is often difficult to manage,” said Jeffrey Shuren, M.D., J.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

The FDA based its approval on data from a clinical trial of 297 patients with severe and persistent asthma. The trial showed a reduction of severe asthma attacks with use of the Alair system.

The FDA is requiring a five-year post-approval study of the device to study its long-term safety and effectiveness. The device manufacturer, Asthmatx, will follow many of the patients who were enrolled in the clinical trial and enroll 300 new patients at several medical centers across the United States.

Possible side effects during the course of treatment may include asthma attacks, wheezing, chest tightness or pain, partially collapsed lung (atelectasis), coughing up blood (hemoptysis), anxiety, headaches, and nausea. The Alair system is designed to reduce the number of severe asthma attacks on a long-term basis. However, there is a risk of immediate asthma attacks during the course of the treatment.

The Alair system is not for use in asthma patients with a pacemaker, internal defibrillator, or other implantable electronic device. Also, those patients with known sensitivities to lidocaine, atropine, or benzodiazepines should not use the device. Alair has not been studied for success in retreatment of the same area of the lung. Currently, patients should not be retreated with the Alair system in the same area of the lung.

Asthma patients considering the Alair system should not be treated while the following conditions are present: an active respiratory infection, coagulopathy (bleeding disorder), asthma exacerbations, or if they have had changes to their corticosteroid regimen 14 days before the proposed treatment.

Asthmatx Inc. is based in Sunnyvale, Calif.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that it will change the way its expert panels review and discuss data and information during public hearings on medical devices under review for premarket approval, effective May 1, 2010.

The changes were prompted by an increasing number of medical device advisory panel meetings in recent years. In 2008, there were 10 panel meetings covering 14 major topics. In 2009, there were 17 meetings on 20 topics, and 2010 is on track to surpass those numbers, according to the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH).

The increased activity has created challenges for CDRH and the way it operates panel meetings. In accord with current agency policy and guidance for advisory committees, the changes address staffing issues, voting procedures, and other items related to information presentation and flow of discussion.

“These changes are expected to empower the agency to make more effective decisions that are informed by more clear and focused discussion by panel experts,” said CDRH Director Jeffrey Shuren, M.D.

In the past, panel discussions have not always reflected a panel’s final vote on approvability. Now, instead of voting on the approvability of premarket approval applications, including conditions of approval, the panel will vote on the safety and effectiveness of a device and the device’s risk versus its benefit.

“By making this change in voting procedure, panel members will address key scientific issues during their discussions, which will be reflected in their votes,” Shuren said. “The change also will allow panel members to address issues related to their area of expertise instead of regulatory issues that may be unfamiliar to them.”

In addition, panels will vote by ballot instead of by a show of hands. While the votes will be publicly tallied so that panel members can be identified by their vote, the ballot process allows each panel member to cast his or her vote without immediate influence by other votes.

There are many issues involved in the FDA’s review of a medical device. Historically, the FDA’s presentations to panels included comments on approvability. With the changes, the FDA’s presentations will continue to include reviews of the agency’s data analysis, but will no longer include comments on approvability.

Before the changes, the agency medical device reviewers presented a unified, consensus analysis of supporting data. Now, reviewers will present together with data and analysis, the range of scientific opinion in the group. This move will allow more in-depth discussion on safety and effectiveness and risk versus benefit of the device under consideration..

The FDA and CDRH will continue to evaluate panel procedures and make changes when necessary. A detailed description of changes to panel operations can be found here.

For more information:

- FDA Advisory Committees: Medical Devices
- Medical Devices Advisory Committee

Source
U.S. Food and Drug Administration