FDA ASCA Program

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) launched a new program called “Accreditation Scheme for Conformity Assessment”, or “ASCA” in September of 2020. It’s a voluntary program that was developed to help increase confidence in medical device testing, therefore decreasing the need for the FDA to request additional information from manufacturers during premarket submissions. In September 2023, the FDA transitioned its pilot status into a permanent program.  

FDA ASCA Program April 2023 Overview - Webinar
November 2023 Update w/ FDA - Webinar

Under the program, testing laboratories apply to the FDA for ASCA Accreditation. Once approved, device manufacturers will be able to contact ASCA-accredited laboratories to begin testing. Once testing is completed, the laboratory will provide results back to the manufacturer, who can then finally make their premarket submission to the FDA.

Intertek now has 16 laboratories officially listed on the “ASCA-Accredited Testing Laboratories” site, including 9 across the U.S., 3 in Japan, 2 in China, 1 in Italy, and 1 in Sweden. No other medical device testing laboratory offers the combination of scope, reach, expertise, accreditations, and commitment to customer success that Intertek provides its customers every day.

There are two primary standards covering Basic safety and essential performance that are included in the FDA ASCA Program:

A number of Biocompatibility standards will also be included in the FDA ASCA program. Please view the ASCA page on the FDA’s website to learn more.