US FDA, industry and other digital health stakeholders huddled at the National Institutes of Health for two days of deep discussions around how the Pre-Certification Pilot was advancing, and how the agency should implement a program that emphasizes certifying "excellence" in company processes. Check out coverage of the meeting and Medtech Insight's exclusive podcast interview with FDA project lead Bakul Patel.

GlaxoSmithKline is streets ahead in the three-in-one COPD market, having received approval last year in the USA and Europe for Trelegy Ellipta, but AstraZeneca's PT010 may provide competition in the future having met six out of seven lung function primary endpoints in a Phase III trial.

The past year saw US FDA and industry work hard and fast to prepare for what looks like an inevitable boom in the digital-health sector. According to interviews, the time is ripe for adoption of mobile health apps to help reduce health-care costs, but the brave new world also brings with it big challenges.

Among the topics US FDA Commissioner Gottlieb touched on were the agency's efforts to reduce clinical development burdens, improve information-sharing and comply with President Trump's two-for-one regulations order.