Medicinal products meet medical devices: Classification and nomenclature issues arising from their combined use.

Abstract

When a medicinal product (MP) and a medical device (MD) are combined, their correct classification implies discrimination among different possible scenarios, based on the nature of the combination and the principal mechanism of action. In the European Union (EU), stakeholders deal with a lack of harmonization, which can represent an obstacle toward the development of these products, and a complex nomenclature, emerging from two divergent regulatory philosophies (i.e., that of MPs and that of MDs