Impact of Rule 11 on the European Medical Software Landscape: Analysis of EUDAMED and Further Databases Three Years After MDR Implementation.

Abstract

Medicine is increasingly supported by software, with digital health technologies offering innovative ways to capture insights and drive therapies. Globally, medical device software must follow regulatory processes based on risk classification. The introduction of MDR represents a significant shift in risk-based classification for Medical Devices in Europe, including classification Rule 11 for software, which has caused significant discussions among European regulators. Three years after implementation, we conducted a systematic impact assessment of MDR classification Rule 11 for MDSW through a qualitative and quantitative analysis of over 2000 software entries from the European Medical Device database, complemented by data from other public databases such as the German DiGA directory and mHealthBELGIUM. Our results indicate that classification Rule 11 of the MDR results in a narrow bandwidth for class I software, whereas this used to be the most frequent classification for software under the MDD: while most of legacy software in EUDAMED falls in the lowest risk category as MDD Class I (53%), the situation reverses after the implementation of MDR with the most entries in Class IIa (55%). Analyzing the legacy MDD patient apps in Germany implies that three quarters will have to re-classify as MDR Class IIa at the end of the transition period in 2028. A comparison of the European and US regulatory landscapes, along with a systematic review of software features for Class I vs. Class IIa products, explains our findings and enables us to recommend a regulatory strategy for developing MDSW compliant with MDR Class I rules, ensuring fast access to the European market.