By Stewart Eisenhart, Emergo Group
The Food & Drug Administration’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) would see an appropriation of $329 million — a 4.8 percent increase over current levels — in the Obama administration’s proposed 2012 budget.
Total CDRH funding would total $395 million, with $66 million from industry user fees, if the administration has its druthers, according to The Gray Sheet. This is the second year in a row in which the White House has sought to fund the CDRH’s national device registry effort, this time to the tune of $4 million.
The budget proposal also allocates $8.4 million to the CDRH for a medical countermeasures program to beef up the FDA’s response capabilities for new diseases as well as chemical and biological threats; $1.5 million to improve imported device safety; $1.7 million for increased medical device manufacturing inspections; and $1.2 million for staff training and research targeting nanotechnology.
In addition, the CDRH would be allotted $49 million to promote innovation efforts and improve regulatory science standards.
Of course, Congressional Republicans have other ideas when it comes to funding government agencies; the US House of Representatives has proposed cutting $241 million from the FDA’s overall budget. The two approaches will have to be reconciled before the FDA and CDRH’s 2012 funding will be finalized.
Stewart Eisenhart covers medical device regulatory affairs for Emergo Group.
