The current legislation, in the form of the IVD Directive, was written for a young industry, without broad scope or scalability. As the industry has evolved, the Directive has become outdated. The new Regulation addresses some of the challenges posed by the Directive, including a new rule-based classification system for products, superseding the current list-based approach. This in itself makes the Regulation more practical, by allowing it to remain relevant to an innovative and growing industry. It also means that a far larger number of IVD manufacturers require a notified body to certify their products, as classification rules are applied to all IVDs, rather than using an exclusive list of specific products to determine which require a notified body. Under the IVD Directive, 90% of the industry could self-certify, but with the Regulation, up to 90% of the industry now requires a notified body.
In addition to the change in classification rules, we also see increased harmony between the IVD Regulation and the equivalent Medical Device Regulation, including a focus on clinical evaluation, and increased control over the wider supply chain.