Regulation of Molecular Diagnostics

Molecular diagnostic tests enable rapid analysis of genomic and proteomic markers. These tests are subject to diverging premarket access and postmarket surveillance requirements and mechanisms in the United States and the European Union. Each of these jurisdictions has its own challenges in keeping the regulations up to date with technological developments. A specific area of attention is that of laboratory-developed tests in the United States and health institution in-house-produced tests in the European Union, for which the United States and the European Union have markedly different regulatory approaches. Both jurisdictions have specific but differing requirements for the use of test samples and test-related data under their rules regarding the protection of (personal) health data, which can cause complexity when moving samples or sample-related data from one jurisdiction to the other.