Update: Agile development in a FDA regulated setting

I contacted Frank Jacquette regarding my previous port on this subject (Agile development in a FDA regulated setting). His experience using Agile methodologies for pure software medical device projects does not correspond with my conclusion regarding cost effectiveness and regulatory risks. Frank said:

It has been a long while since I wrote that article, but we've applied the same approach to some fairly significant systems and they've all come in on time and within budget.

He does agree that the regulatory risk is a legitimate concern, but their experience with clients and regulators has always been positive.

I want to thank Frank for so graciously responding to my inquiry.

He also pointed me to a presentation called Integrating lightweight software processes into a regulated environment (warning: PDF) by Adrian Barnes that I had not seen before. This is a far more detailed look at possible solutions for bridging the gap between "Agile Processes" and "Formal Processes". The subject progression and graphics are very well done. It's worth a careful look-through. I'll let you be the judge, but I think Adrian's conclusions have the same level of skepticism as mine. I broadly addressed cost effectiveness whereas he specifically deals with risk factors for his bridge solution. He has even less faith on the regulatory risk side: "A brave man would try to convince the FDA that Agile is OK".

It's always good to have multiple points-of-view on a subject.