(a) To designate the agency component with primary jurisdiction for the premarket review and regulation of a combination product, the agency shall determine the primary mode of action of the product. Where the primary mode of action is that of:

(1) A drug (other than a biological product), the agency component charged with premarket review of drugs shall have primary jurisdiction;

(2) A device, the agency component charged with premarket review of devices shall have primary jurisdiction;

(3) A biological product, the agency component charged with premarket review of biological products shall have primary jurisdiction.

(b) In some situations, it is not possible to determine, with reasonable certainty, which one mode of action will provide a greater contribution than any other mode of action to the overall therapeutic effects of the combination product. In such a case, the agency will assign the combination product to the agency component that regulates other combination products that present similar questions of safety and effectiveness with regard to the combination product as a whole. When there are no other combination products that present similar questions of safety and effectiveness with regard to the combination product as a whole, the agency will assign the combination product to the agency component with the most expertise related to the most significant safety and effectiveness questions presented by the combination product.

(c) The designation of one agency component as having primary jurisdiction for the premarket review and regulation of a combination product does not preclude consultations by that component with other agency components or, in appropriate cases, the requirement by FDA of separate applications.