Marketing Authorisation

On 26 May 2023, the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced plans to introduce new international recognition routes for medicines, whereby the MHRA can recognise decisions to authorise medicinal products taken in other countries so the MHRA can fast track approval in the UK. Further, on 4 July 2023, the MHRA published its Corporate Plan, 2023 to 2026 (Corporate Plan) outlining its four strategic priorities over the next three years, including to “deliver scientific and regulatory excellence through strategic partnerships” through, for example, collaboration with international regulatory partners.

The new international recognition routes will enable recognition of medicinal product approvals in Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Switzerland, Singapore and the United States.

The aim is for these routes to be in place by the first quarter of 2024.

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Today, 26 April 2023, the European Commission (the Commission) published its long-awaited proposed amendments to the EU regulatory framework for medicinal products (the Proposals). We set out the key takeaways from these Proposals in our Advisory.

This is the culmination of a number of years’ work by the Commission, starting with the new pharmaceutical strategy for Europe (the Strategy) announced on 25 November 2020. We set out a summary of and reasons behind the Strategy in a previous Advisory, noting that the Strategy sought to ensure a high level of public health by increasing the availability, accessibility, and affordability of medicinal products throughout the EU and harmonize the internal market.

To meet these goals, the Commission has proposed substantial changes to the EU regulatory system, via a new Directive that will replace Directive 2001/83 (medicinal products for human use), and a new Regulation that will replace Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 (authorization and supervision of medicinal products), Regulation (EC) No 141/2000 (orphan medicinal products), and Regulation (EC) No 1901/2006 (pediatric medicines). The Proposals include changes to the regulatory protections available for medicinal products and orphan medicinal products and a new procedure relating to shortages of medicinal products.

Continue Reading Proposed Amendments to the EU Regulatory Framework for Medicinal Products

Earlier this month, the European Commission published an updated version of the 2011 Note on the handling of duplicate marketing authorisation applications for medicinal products (the 2011 Note). Following a long period of consultation and exchange with stakeholders and representatives from the EU Member States, the European Commission has sought to clarify the conditions under which applications for duplicate marketing authorisations will be assessed. In this blog post, we discuss the relevant changes, as well as the implications for the industry.
Continue Reading European Commission publishes updated guidance for duplicate marketing authorisations