Marketing authorisation mutual recognition procedur

Conceptually, this procedure for Community authorisations (also known as the centralised procedure) resembles a hybrid of the national procedure and the mutual recognition procedure, with the differences that first, the application is submitted to EMEA second, the dossier supporting the application undergoes a detailed assessment by the CHMP before approval in any Member State of the EU third, the applicant is provided with an opportunity to clarify any issues raised by any of the EU Member States fourth, the procedure naturally has an extended time frame but stUl with predetermined deadlines and finally, the applicant ends up with an approval or a refusal to market the product in all or any Member States of the EU. The centralised procedure is shown in Figure 17.2. 

This is a new procedure introduced imder Directive 2004/27/EC. In contrast to the mutual recognition procedure, the decentrahsed procedure applies to products for which the centralised procedure is not mandatory and which are not authorised in any EU Member State. It facilitates the parallel submission to both RMS and CMSs, involvement of the CMS during the national evaluation phase, and parallel granting of national marketing authorisations after the positive finalisation of the European step of the procedure. Some of the finer details of this new procedure established under the new legislation are yet to be confirmed. 

At the time of its inception, a procedure was laid down in Directive 75/318/EEC for a scheme for mutual recognition of marketing authorisations. This mutual recognition procedure , initially called the CPMP procedure , has had several other names attached to it, namely the multistate procedure and decentralised procedure . 

This directive required that products covered by Annex A of the classification had to be referred to the CPMP for an opinion before a marketing authorisation (MA) could be granted in any Member State. This process became known as the Concertation Procedure, or Centralised Procedure. Products covered by Annex B could, at the request of the manufacturer, be dealt with by the Concertation Procedure or by an individual national authority and then achieve entry into other EU Member States markets if requested by means of the multistate or mutual recognition procedure. 

Regulation EEC/2309/93 also laid down Community procedures for the authorisation and supervision of medicinal products for human or veterinary use. It established two procedures for obtaining entry to the markets of the Member States, namely the multistate or decentralised or mutual recognition procedure and the centralised procedure . Figures 15.1 and... 

Under the mutual recognition procedure, the applicant company usually ends up receiving national marketing authorisations from some or all of the national drug regulatory authorities to whom the dossier is submitted. The centralised procedure, on the other hand, is all or none , and under it the applicant company would receive a single marketing approval from the EMEA valid in all European Union countries. Rejection of an application under the centralised procedure means that the product cannot be marketed in any Member State. 

Application for marketing authorisation using either the centralised or the mutual recognition procedure has to be submitted in four highly structured parts - I, II, III and IV. Volume 2B of the Rules Governing Medicinal Products gives a detailed breakdown of the structure of each part of the dossier, including the three mandatory expert reports. 

The first of these guidelines lays down the roles and responsibilities of the marketing authorisation holders and of the national competent authorities in respect of the products authorised through the national procedures (including mutual recognition procedure). Also defined are the roles and responsibilities of the Reference Member States (for mutual recognition products) and of the rapporteur and EMEA for centrally approved products. 

Marketing authorisations in the European community can be obtained at present by two main procedures - mutual recognition of a national authorisation from one Member State or a community-wide authorisation through a procedure known as the centralised procedure. In November 2005, a new procedure, known as the decentralised procedure, will be introduced under the new legislation. 

National provisions on specific materials still exist in areas where Community legislation is not adopted. The rule of mutual recognition applies to this national legislation. Any product lawfully produced and marketed in one Member State must, in principle, be admitted to the market of any other Member State. The only reason a Member State can reject a product is on the basis of protection of human health. Even under mutual recognition, national legislation may foresee that the use of a substance lawfully manufactured and/or marketed in another Member State is subject to prior authorisation provided certain requirements are fulfilled such as a simplified procedure for having the substance included on a national list. In non-harmonised areas... 

National marketing authorisations were intended to be phased out from 1 January 1998. It was foreseen that beyond that date, all marketing authorisations within the European Union would have been issued under the rules governing medicinal products in the European Community through the Centralised Procedure, or the so-called Mutual Recognition or Decentralised Procedure (see below). However, national approvals for marketing have continued well beyond 1 January 1998. 

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