All hail Mike Mandel!

In June, I wrote How the FDA Impedes Innovation citing Mike Mandel’s excellent paper on Melafind, an innovative device for identifying melanomas that the FDA had deemed “not approvable.” Well just last week, the FDA backed down and approved Melafind for board-certified dermatologists who undergo a specialized training course. Importantly, that decision keeps the company in business and prepares a path for evolutionary improvements.

I believe that the FDA would not have reversed its decision without Mandel’s paper and the extensive media that covered this issue. All hail Mike Mandel!

Here is another piece of good news on an item recently covered by MR.

In September, I wrote Crowd Investing versus the SEC, discussing how expensive SEC regulations made it uneconomic for small firms to solicit small investments from large groups of investors. Last week the House passed the Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act, which lets businesses use crowd investing to sell unregistered securities as long as the total amount raised is $2 million or less and no individual investment exceeds $10,000 or 10 percent of the investor’s annual income. Another bill, The Small Company Capital Formation Act lets companies seeking less than $50 million in capital (previously just $5 million), proceed without going through the lengthy and costly SEC registration process.

Neither bill has passed the Senate but both passed the House overwhelmingly and President Obama endorsed both bills, saying they would reduce “the red tape that prevents many rapidly growing startup companies from raising much-needed capital.” Keep your fingers crossed.

Hat tip: PM.

Addendum: Holman Jenkins also deserves a special shout out on the FDA issue for covering this issue early and well in the WSJ.