Are You Ready for In Vivo?
Are You Ready for In Vivo?
September 1, 2026
A stage-gate test for moving into in vivo work.
Moving into an in vivo study is a significant development milestone, but the right timing depends on more than completing benchtop work. This brief introduces a six-gate review to help medical device teams assess whether the device, procedure, model, and study objectives are sufficiently defined to generate meaningful evidence.

Inside this Expert Brief:
- A six-gate framework for assessing readiness to move into in vivo work
- How to determine whether the next development question truly requires a living system
- Key considerations for evaluating device and procedural readiness before beginning a study
- Guidance for aligning animal model selection and study scope with the required evidence
- Ways to define how study outcomes will inform the next development milestone
This Expert Brief was developed with input from medical device regulatory strategy expert Sam Gilbert, VMD, following the webinar Regulatory Strategy for Medical Device Preclinical Programs.


