ACMD meeting statement, Meeting 76, 7 December 2023

Role of the ACMD in the TGA's regulatory decision-making process

The Advisory Committee on Medical Devices (ACMD) is a statutory advisory committee established by the Therapeutic Goods Regulations 1990. The committee provides independent expert advice on specific scientific and technical matters to aid the TGA's decision making and other regulatory processes.

While the advice provided by the ACMD is an important element in the undertaking of the TGA's regulatory functions, it forms only part of the information that is available to delegates when they make a regulatory decision under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989. It is important to note that while appropriate consideration will always be given to such advice, the TGA is not obliged to follow the specific recommendations and advice given by the committee.

It should also be noted that information about advice provided by the committee may not become publicly available for some time after the committee has provided that advice. The purpose of this Meeting Statement is to describe in general terms the matters considered by the committee at each meeting and for it to be available as soon as reasonably practical after the relevant meeting.

Update on matters where the committee previously provided advice and a TGA decision has been made

Applications for:

• a hip joint reconstruction system – considered at ACMD 64, has been approved. 
• a knee replacement system – considered at ACMD 67, has been withdrawn.
• the Reverse humeral components on four shoulder replacement systems – considered ACMD 70, have been withdrawn and the IFU and PIL for Anatomical version on these four devices are being updated.
• one component of a hip replacement system – considered at ACMD 70, has been withdrawn.
• two components of a hip replacement system – considered at ACMD 70, have been approved.
• a knee replacement system – considered at ACMD 70, has been withdrawn.
• a spinal fusion device – considered at ACMD 71, has been approved.
• a balloon catheter system for angina – considered at ACMD 73, has been withdrawn.

There were no other decisions made for items previously considered by the committee.

Overview of the medical devices referred for advice

At the 76th ACMD meeting the committee considered the following devices:

• a surgical mesh artificial ligament 
• a device system used to treat heart attacks
• a transcatheter heart value system

The committee considered whether the benefits outweighed the risks for the devices and whether adequate evidence had been provided to demonstrate safety and performance through compliance with the Essential Principles.

More information

Consideration and management of declarations of actual or potential conflicts of interest by committee members occurs by the Chair, committee members and the Department prior to and during the meeting (as appropriate).

For meeting #76, one Committee Member declared a conflict of interest, having held, in the last five years, a commercial consulting agreement with the Sponsor relevant to a device that the committee had been asked for advice on. This represented a real or perceived conflict for this member, and the member was excluded from the discussion on that item.

Another two Committee members indicated potential conflicts of interest. The Committee carefully discussed the potential conflicts and concluded no conflicts existed.

Meeting statements are made publicly available after each meeting.

For more information visit the Advisory Committee on Medical Devices (ACMD) webpage or contact the ACMD Secretariat by email TGAMedicalDevices@health.gov.au.