ISO 13485:2016, Journey to regulatory compliance for IVD

With the significant regulatory changes underway for market access to the EU, IVD medical device manufacturers need to be aware that the compliance requirements that they face for the new EU IVD Regulation are changing dramatically. Compliance with ISO 13485:2016 can help in vitro diagnostic medical device manufacturers to prepare for new EU IVD Regulations (IVDR) which becomes mandatory in 2022. Certification with this key QMS (ISO 13485) standard specifically applying to medical devices and IVD manufacturers is the first step on that regulatory compliance journey and lays the foundation for meeting your regulatory obligations.

ISO 13485:2016
This standard was last reviewed and confirmed in 2020. Therefore this version remains current.

ISO 13485:2016 specifies requirements for a quality management system where an organization needs to demonstrate its ability to provide medical devices and related services that consistently meet customer and applicable regulatory requirements. Such organizations can be involved in one or more stages of the life-cycle, including design and development, production, storage and distribution, installation, or servicing of a medical device and design and development or provision of associated activities (e.g. technical support). ISO 13485:2016 can also be used by suppliers or external parties that provide product, including quality management system-related services to such organizations.

Requirements of ISO 13485:2016 are applicable to organizations regardless of their size and regardless of their type except where explicitly stated. Wherever requirements are specified as applying to medical devices, the requirements apply equally to associated services as supplied by the organization.

The processes required by ISO 13485:2016 that are applicable to the organization, but are not performed by the organization, are the responsibility of the organization and are accounted for in the organization’s quality management system by monitoring, maintaining, and controlling the processes.

If applicable regulatory requirements permit exclusions of design and development controls, this can be used as a justification for their exclusion from the quality management system. These regulatory requirements can provide alternative approaches that are to be addressed in the quality management system. It is the responsibility of the organization to ensure that claims of conformity to ISO 13485:2016 reflect any exclusion of design and development controls.

If any requirement in Clauses 6, 7 or 8 of ISO 13485:2016 is not applicable due to the activities undertaken by the organization or the nature of the medical device for which the quality management system is applied, the organization does not need to include such a requirement in its quality management system. For any clause that is determined to be not applicable, the organization records the justification as described in 4.2.2.

MB Bureau