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Benjamin M. Zegarelli

Of Counsel

[email protected]

+1.212.692.6261

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Benjamin provides regulatory compliance counsel to global clients developing and marketing FDA-regulated products with the goal of mitigating compliance concerns and obstacles facing product candidates or commercialized products while helping clients achieve commercial success. With a clear focus on medical device compliance matters, Benjamin advises life science and health care industry clients, on the federal and state laws governing the design, production, quality, and commercialization of a breadth of devices, including traditional hardware devices, in vitro diagnostics, and software as a medical device (“SaMD”). He has extensive experience guiding medical device companies through the FDA regulatory process to identify the optimal marketing authorization pathway, assisting with FDA communications and requests, ensuring that submissions to FDA meet regulatory requirements, and helping to establish robust post-market quality systems and compliance controls.

In particular, Benjamin has counseled numerous SaMD developers and software as a service (SaaS) companies, especially those designing software that incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) functionalities, on FDA regulatory strategy, including preparing for pre-submission meetings with FDA, submitting applications for marketing authorization, and responding to agency requests for additional information. He also regularly advises clinical laboratory clients on navigating regulations governing in vitro diagnostic tests, and specifically, the development, distribution, and marketing of laboratory developed tests and home-use specimen collection kits. In addition, Benjamin assists life sciences clients with medical product distribution, advertising, promotion, and labeling compliance, as well as negotiating contractual relationships with suppliers and other contractors.

Benjamin has substantial experience representing medical device companies in responding to significant unfavorable observations from FDA investigators, including regulatory violations cited in Untitled Letters or Warning Letters. He helps companies take strategic actions in navigating the communications process with FDA and implementing appropriate corrective actions to address compliance issues.

In his practice, Benjamin coordinates and performs diligence reviews as part of corporate transactions and securities offerings involving life science and health care companies. He is well versed in the process of developing policy positions for life sciences clients and advocating such positions before FDA and other governmental bodies through written comments and in-person meetings. His practice also includes representing both clinical trial sponsors and clinical sites on regulatory issues in clinical research studies, including compliance with government grant regulations, as well as drafting and negotiating the agreements necessary to perform clinical trials.

Benjamin has co-authored several books titled, Promotion of FDA-Regulated Medical Products and Introduction to the Due Diligence Process, Second Edition, both published by the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society. He has given numerous presentations on current health care industry topics, with titles such as “Digital Health in the Metaverse: Navigating the Interplay Between Healthcare Delivery and Healthcare Laws” and “Clarifying the Clinical Trials Process for Drugs and Biologics.” He has a Master of Science degree in organic chemistry, and he previously worked as a research chemist in the discovery group of a major research-based pharmaceutical company.

Experience

  • Worked with several Mintz clients operating in non-FDA regulated industries to determine how to manufacture and distribute face masks and alcohol-based hand sanitizers in compliance with FDA's enforcement discretion policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, including by providing promotion and labeling advice. 
  • Counseled multiple Mintz clients developing in vitro diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2 on compliance with FDA’s enforcement discretion and EUA policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, including assistance with promotion and clinical testing activities.
  • Assisted a pharmacogenetics software company with drafting a pre-submission meeting briefing documents, attended the pre-submission meeting with the client and FDA, and counseled the client on drafting a marketing authorization application that addressed the issues discussed at the pre-submission meeting.
  • Advised numerous Mintz clients developing SaMD or other digital health technologies on selecting the most appropriate regulatory strategy for their products in light of contemporary FDA policies and guidance and avoiding potential regulatory pitfalls relating to software design, quality controls, and pre-market submissions.
  • Counseled multiple Mintz clinical laboratory clients on the regulatory framework governing in vitro diagnostic tests and restrictions on the development, distribution, and commercialization of laboratory developed tests (“LDTs”) and home-use specimen collections kits.
  • Assisted a clinical laboratory with responding to multiple regulatory inquiries from FDA and developing a comprehensive corrective action plan addressing noncompliance allegations relating to home-use specimen collection kits and diagnostic assays.
  • Participates in the Medical, Legal, and Regulatory (“MLR”) Committees that are engaged in promotional review activities on behalf of multiple clients with recently approved new drugs and biologics.
  • Provided extensive assistance to a major medical device manufacturer in responding to regulatory observations from multiple FDA inspections and enforcement actions, including a Warning Letter and a regulatory meeting, including development of a corrective action plan, assisting with the implementation and effectiveness evaluation of corrective and preventive actions, and auditing the company’s complaint handling and MDR reporting systems.
  • Collaborated with ML Strategies to develop a comprehensive strategy to advocate FDA and Congress for development and implementation of regulatory oversight for third-party servicers of medical devices on behalf of a major medical device manufacturer.
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viewpoints

This post is the first in a series of three in which we recap the Food and Drug Administration’s somewhat difficult year, having spent the majority of it without a permanent Commissioner and facing a slew of political and practical challenges. Today our topic is “medical devices” writ large, which is a product class that is becoming more complex by the day as it grows to encompass software, diagnostics, laboratory tests, and new medical technologies that resemble nothing that Congress had in mind when it first gave FDA authority to regulate medical devices in 1976. In the coming days, we’ll also take a broad look at FDA’s year from the standpoint of therapeutic medical products, including drugs and biologics, as well as the more commonly used category of consumer products.
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To anyone who has been following government enforcement and private litigation trends related to the over-the-counter (OTC) homeopathic drug industry over the past several years, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) announcement on October 24, 2019 likely came as no surprise. But to stakeholders in this industry, it was certainly unwelcome news and may portend a coming wave of unapproved drug enforcement actions by the FDA.
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On September 26, 2019, FDA released a six revised digital health guidances. The primary objective of these revisions was to bring the guidances into alignment with the software function exemptions described in Section 3060 of the 21st Century Cures Act (the “Cures Act”). The medical device community has anticipated these changes since Congress passed the Cures Act almost three years ago in December 2016.
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On August 8, 2019, FDA issued a notice on its medical device recall database that a company called Opternative, Inc. had initiated a recall for the Visibly Online Refractive Vision Test, a software application offered directly to consumers. This represents a recent example of FDA taking enforcement action against a telemedicine software company that ultimately resulted in removal of the app from commercial distribution.
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On July 31, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) jointly published a proposal, called the Safe Importation Action Plan, to allow certain entities to import drugs from foreign entities. While this development was not a surprise given President Trump’s campaign promises to lower drug prices by, among other things, removing barriers to drug product importation, it represents a stark departure from prior agency positions that the importation of drugs could not be adequately verified as safe and would not lead to significant cost reductions.
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On May 14, FDA announced that it issued five Warning Letters to companies that manufacture and market homeopathic drugs for human use. The letters all cite cGMP deficiencies relating to inspectional observations and conclude that the products are misbranded prescription drugs under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act because “in light of their toxicity or other potentiality for harmful effect, or the method of their use, or the collateral measures necessary to their use, they are not safe for use except under the supervision of a practitioner licensed by law to administer such drugs” and they are not labeled for prescription use only.

In 2019 so far, FDA has issued Warning Letters to eleven separate homeopathic drug manufacturers, including the five letters referenced above. All of the Warning Letters, except one, cite observations from inspections and focus on cGMP and quality violations at the manufacturing facilities, including contamination and varying amounts of active ingredients, that could lead to consumer harm.
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Regulation of cannabidiol (CBD) was a hot topic on Day 1 of ACI’s Cosmetics & Personal Care Products conference on March 28, 2019. Attendees asked many questions about legitimate uses of and claims for CBD, but definite answers were in short supply due to the current confusion over the legality of CBD as a product itself or other products, such as food or cosmetics, with CBD added.

When asked a direct question about FDA’s perspective on and plans for CBD regulation, Dr. Linda Katz, Director of FDA’s Office of Cosmetics and Colors and Acting Chief Medical Officer for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, did not comment directly but referred all attendees to an upcoming public meeting on CBD in April 2019. It is possible that the public meeting could be the start of an FDA rulemaking process for CBD regulations. Even though Dr. Katz was unable to comment, there was still plenty of CDB advice to share with industry attendees.
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In December, my colleague Aaron Josephson and I described our observations after attending FDA’s public workshop on Medical Device Servicing and Remanufacturing Activities. In this post, I want to share some additional thoughts about medical device servicing based on conversations I had with other workshop attendees about changing the device distribution and ownership paradigm to avoid issues about third party servicing and remanufacturing. This is a prominent consideration for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) given FDA’s evident reluctance to regulate third-party servicers directly, meaning that there are no quality or safety requirements for third party repairs. Below, I describe why making OEM servicing mandatory is essentially impossible under the typical model of device sales to and ownership by health care professionals and institutions, as well as some alternative commercial models that might allow OEMs to cut third-party servicers out of the picture.
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As 2019 quickly approaches, we would like to take a few moments to reflect on the past year of Food and Drug Administration activities and certain big ticket items that made news in 2018. As the Magic 8-Ball would say: “signs point to yes” that everything on the list below will continue to be major areas of focus for both FDA and the U.S. Congress next year and into the foreseeable future.
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On December 10-11, 2018, FDA hosted a public workshop, Medical Device Servicing and Remanufacturing Activities, as part of its effort to develop a draft guidance that will distinguish servicing activities from remanufacturing. FDA expressed intent to develop a draft guidance on this topic as part of its May 15, 2018 report to Congress on the quality, safety, and effectiveness of medical device servicing. This post provides some observations about areas of agreement among stakeholders and FDA’s perspective on servicing versus remanufacturing.
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News & Press

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MDDI interviewed Of Counsel Benjamin Zegarelli on the controversy surrounding the FDA’s proposed regulation to oversee laboratory-developed tests (LDT) and his thoughts on the future of LDTs.

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Of Counsel Benjamin Zegarelli appeared on MDDI’s Let’s Talk Medtech Podcast. Ben provides some important regulatory updates surrounding laboratory-developed tests, artificial intelligence, and software.

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Of Counsel Benjamin Zegarelli was quoted in a Business Insurance article discussing the impact of new FDA guidelines focused on medical cybersecurity.

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Mintz is pleased to announce that 120 firm attorneys have been recognized as leaders by Best Lawyers® in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America©.

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Axios interviewed Of Counsel Benjamin Zegarelli  about the citizen petition that was filed with the FDA to recall Bamboo's NarxCare.

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NEW YORK – Mintz represented the syndicate of underwriters led by William Blair & Company, L.L.C., in the public offering of 17,242,000 shares of common stock of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (“Viking”) (Nasdaq: VKTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders, at an initial offering price of $14.50 per share.

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Mintz Member Joanne Hawana, Senior Director of ML Strategies Aaron Josephson, and Mintz Associate Benjamin Zegarelli co-authored an article published in Law360 discussing the latest actions from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in response to COVID-19.
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MedTechDive reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is not yet ready to go to Congress to seek new powers for its evolving precertification pilot for software, but it will need new authorities to determine how the experimental path fits into the current regulatory scheme. The article included commentary from Senior Director of ML Strategies Aaron Josephson and Mintz Associate Benjamin Zegarelli.
Bethany Hills and Benjamin Zegarelli co-author this piece reviewing the 21st Century Cures Act that requires the FDA to develop a framework for evaluating evidence in the context of drug regulation and predicting how the FDA will implement the policy.
Three attorneys from Mintz authored the initial installment of a four-part series recapping key government policies, regulations, and enforcement actions from 2016 and discussing their potential impacts on 2017.
Health Law attorney Joanne Hawana and Associate Benjamin Zegarelli authored a Law360 column on how the Senate Appropriations Committee’s approval of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies 2017 appropriations bill sets the stage for GMO legislation. 
FDA and Health Law attorney Joanne Hawana and New York Associate Benjamin Zegarelli authored this Law360 column discussing the growing public support for genetically modified organism and genetic engineering labeling on appropriate food products across the board.
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Events & Speaking

Speaker
Sep
20
2023
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Mar
22
2023

Clarifying the Clinical Trials Process for Drugs and Biologics

ACI's 40th FDA Boot Camp

Virtual Conference

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Panelist
Dec
13
2022

IP Considerations for Medical Device Companies

Boston Bar Association

Online Event

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Speaker
Nov
10
2022

Regulation of Over-the-Counter (OTC) Drugs

Food and Drug Law Institute

Online Event

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Speaker
Jan
26
2022
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Aug
19
2021

Law Over Lunch

Food and Drug Law Institute

Online Event

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Apr
21
2020
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Apr
14
2020

FDA in the Time of COVID-19

View the Webinar Recording

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Speaker
Apr
24
2019

16th Annual Medical Device Quality Congress

Servicing & Remanufacturing

Bethesda, MD

Speaker
Mar
26
2019

Mount Sinai Innovation Partners Lecture

Protecting and Commercializing Your Innovation – FDA Regulation

New York, NY

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Recognition & Awards

  • Best Lawyers in America "Ones to Watch": Administrative / Regulatory Law (2021-2022); Health Care Law (2021-2024)

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