[Industry regulation and its relationship to the rapid marketing of medical devices].

In the market of medical devices, non-Japanese products hold a large part even in Japan. To overcome this situation, the Japanese government has been announcing policies to encourage the medical devices industry, such as the 5-year strategy for medical innovation (June 6, 2012). The Division of Medical Devices has been contributing to rapid marketing of medical devices by working out the standards for approval review and accreditation of medical devices, guidances on evaluation of medical devices with emerging technology, and test methods for biological safety evaluation of medical devices, as a part of practice in the field of regulatory science. The recent outcomes are 822 standards of accreditation for Class II medical devices, 14 guidances on safety evaluation of medical devices with emerging technology, and the revised test methods for biological safety evaluation (MHLW Notification by Director, OMDE, Yakushokuki-hatsu 0301 No. 20 "Basic Principles of Biological Safety Evaluation Required for Application for Approval to Market Medical Devices").