Sarah Cowlishaw

Sarah Cowlishaw

Sarah Cowlishaw’s practice focuses on life sciences regulatory and commercial law for pharmaceutical, medical device, food, and consumer products. Her advice on general regulatory matters includes borderline determinations, food classifications, adverse event and other reporting obligations, manufacturing controls, and labeling and promotion. Ms. Cowlishaw also advises on regulatory aspects of corporate/commercial deals, particularly regulatory due diligence.

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Brexit: UK Guidance on Regulation of Medical Devices from 1 January 2021

By Sarah Cowlishaw and Katharina Ewert on Posted in Brexit, Food & Drug Regulatory, Medical Devices
The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”) has published Guidance on the regulation of medical devices from 1 January 2021 (the “Guidance”).  It discusses the regulatory requirements that apply to medical devices after the end of the Brexit transitional period under the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement.  In summary: From 1 January 2021, different rules … Continue Reading

Effective date of EU Medical Device Regulation now officially delayed by 1 year

By Sarah Cowlishaw and Anna Herrmann on Posted in Food & Drug Regulatory, Medical Devices
On 23 April 2020, the European Parliament and Council approved the European Commission’s proposal to delay the application date of the Medical Device Regulation 2017/745 (the “MDR”) by one year (from 26 May 2020 to 26 May 2021) by adopting New Regulation (EU) 2020/561 (the “New Regulation“). Unusually, the New Regulation took effect on the … Continue Reading

European Commission publishes proposal to postpone the application date of the Medical Device Regulations in response to COVID-19

By Sarah Cowlishaw and Anna Herrmann on Posted in European Union, Food & Drug Regulatory, Medical Devices
The European Commission published today its proposal for the European Parliament and the Council to postpone the application date of the Medical Devices Regulation 2017/745 (“MDR”) by one year.  This publication comes only 9 days after the Commission announced its plans to postpone the MDR (see the InsideEULifeSciences blog post here).  The European Parliament and … Continue Reading

European Commission plans to postpone the application date of the Medical Device Regulations in response to COVID-19

By Sarah Cowlishaw and Anna Herrmann on Posted in Food & Drug Regulatory, Medical Devices
The European Commission has announced today that it is working on a proposal to postpone the application date of the Medical Devices Regulation 2017/745 (“MDR”) for one year.  This proposal is to relieve the pressure on national authorities, notified bodies, manufacturers and other actors so they can focus on responding to the COVID-19 outbreak.  According … Continue Reading

TechForce19: UK Government promises up to £25,000 for innovator companies that develop digital support solutions for COVID-19

By Sarah Cowlishaw and Anna Herrmann on Posted in Uncategorized
On 23 March 2020, the Department of Health and Social Care (“DHSC”) issued a plea to technology companies to come up with digital support solutions for COVID-19.  The DHSC is making £500,000 available, with funding of up to £25,000 per company.  The challenge, named TechForce19, aims to increase community support for the elderly, vulnerable and … Continue Reading

MHRA issues specification for a “Rapidly Manufactured Ventilator System” for use in hospitals during the COVID-19 outbreak

By Sarah Cowlishaw and Anna Herrmann on Posted in Food & Drug Regulatory, Medical Devices
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”) has published a specification for a “Rapidly Manufactured Ventilator System” (“RMVS”), setting out the clinical requirements for a ‘minimally acceptable’ ventilator for use in hospitals during the COVID-19 outbreak (the “RMVS Specification”).  The purpose of the RMVS Specification is to meet the UK healthcare system’s increased demand … Continue Reading

French medicines regulator produces first in Europe medical devices cybersecurity guidelines

By Harriet Fletcher and Sarah Cowlishaw on Posted in Food & Drug Regulatory, Medical Devices, Privacy & Data Security
France’s medicines regulator, the Agence Nationale de Sécurité du Médicament et des Produits de Santé (ANSM), has released draft guidelines, currently subject to a public consultation, setting out recommendations for manufacturers designed to help prevent cybersecurity attacks to medical devices. Notably, the draft guidelines are the first instance of recommendations released by a national regulator … Continue Reading

New Draft EMA-Guideline On Clinical Development Of Fixed Combination Medicines

By Sarah Cowlishaw on Posted in Food & Drug Regulatory, Medicinal Products
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recently published for public consultation its draft guideline on clinical development of fixed combination medicinal products (Draft Guideline), which is intended to replace CHMP/EWP/240/95 Rev. 1 (Existing Guideline).  The Draft Guideline applies to fixed combination medicinal products containing two or more active substances within a single pharmaceutical form.  The … Continue Reading

EU Guidelines on Cosmetic Product Safety Reports

By Sarah Cowlishaw on Posted in Cosmetics
On 25 November 2013, the European Commission published an Implementing Decision containing guidelines to assist responsible persons comply with their regulatory obligations under the EU Cosmetics Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 (Cosmetics Regulation).  The guidelines provide clarity on Annex I of the Cosmetics Regulation, which sets out the minimum requirements for cosmetic product safety reports.  The … Continue Reading

Advocate General Opinion on Reclassification of Medical Devices

By Sarah Cowlishaw on Posted in Food & Drug Regulatory, Medical Devices, Medicinal Products
On May 30, 2013, Advocate General Sharpston delivered an opinion on a request for a preliminary ruling from the Finnish national courts concerning the laws governing reclassification of medical devices (Advocate General: Opinion, Case C-109/12).  The Advocate General’s opinion does not bind the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).  However, in the majority … Continue Reading

What’s in a Name?

By Peter Bogaert and Sarah Cowlishaw on Posted in Food & Drug Regulatory, Medicinal Products
Article originally published in European Pharmaceutical Contractor, September  2012 Although at first sight the rules that govern the distinction between medical devices and medicines in the EU allow for a direct and systematic approach, borderline determinations are, in practice, often difficult and the rules lack logical rigour The European Commission is expected to publish proposals … Continue Reading
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