The International Medical Device Regulators Forum (IMDRF) is comprised of regulatory authorities from around the world. It aims to accelerate international harmonisation and revision of medical device regulations. This provides an important basis for reducing regulatory effort for both authorities and companies and for exploiting synergies through regulatory cooperation.
The last five-day meeting of the IMDRF was held in Brussels from 27 to 31 March 2023. It included a two-day open session attended by some 300 participants from every continent in person, and a further 200 online. Representatives from industry and the authorities were present, with input from users and a patient. The Management Committee Meeting was held over the following three days.
At Swissmedic's request, the IMDRF granted the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products the status of Official Observer at Management Committee Meetings. This new status is an important interim step towards Swissmedic's strategic objective of being admitted as a member of the Management Committee.
Swissmedic experts have already been directly and actively involved in various working groups since 2021.