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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

On Monday, FDA issued a final rule to amend FDA’s established definitions of “intended use” for drugs and devices, the primary consideration in determining whether a product is regulated for a particular use and what regulations apply.
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Over the past year, clear trends have emerged in FDA’s enforcement activities. Enforcement arising from alleged violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) can take many forms, including FDA advisory actions such as warning letters, adverse inspectional observations that can lead to specific administrative action.
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As we noted in our December 9th post, the 21st Century Cures Act (the “Cures Act”) requires FDA to develop a framework and guidance for evaluating real world evidence (“RWE”) in the context of drug regulation to support approvals of new indications for previously approved drugs, and to support or fulfill post-approval study requirements.
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As we’ve previously reported, the FDA has recently been forced to reexamine its legal position and enforcement policies related to drug and device manufacturers’ off-label communications.
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On November 7, 2016, FDA announced in the Federal Register its plan to research methods for including risk information about pharmaceutical and medical device products in promotional Internet communications that have character space limitations, such as sponsored links and microblogs.
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On October 14, 2016, FDA released draft guidance entitled Software as a Medical Device (SaMD): Clinical Evaluation (the "SaMD Draft Guidance"). The draft guidance was prepared by the SaMD Working Group of the International Medical Device Regulators Forum (IMDRF), chaired by Bakul Patel, Associate Director for Digital Health at CDRH, and was endorsed by the IMDRF Management Committee in September 2016.
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The Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) held its annual Convergence conference last week in San Jose. The event certainly illustrated RAPS’s global influence given that the attendees represented many of the global centers of life sciences regulations, including the United States, the European Union (both the unified government and the individual countries), Brazil, Mexico, China, Japan, and other regions.
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FDA released two new draft guidances on Monday, August 8 in an attempt to help device manufacturers determine when a modification triggers the obligation to file a new 510(k) under 21 C.F.R. § 807.81(a)(3).
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In recent years, applications for orphan drug designations have flooded into FDA at a rapid pace, and this year appears to be no exception. Orphan drug applications received by FDA rose by approximately 30% over the previous year in 2009, 2010, 2013, and 2014, with 467 applications submitted in 2014.
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As an update to my post on Friday, April 22, FDA has extended the deadline for comments on third-party servicing of medical devices. According to FDA's notice of extension, comments are now due by June 3, 2016.
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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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Nov
10
2022

Regulation of Over-the-Counter (OTC) Drugs

Food and Drug Law Institute

Online Event

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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

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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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