Marketing authorization

Process of reviewing and assessing the dossier to support a medicinal product in view of its marketing (also called licensing, registration, approval, etc.), finalized by granting of a document also called marketing authorization (MA) (equivalent: product license). This process is performed within a legislative framework which defines the requirements necessary for application to the concerned (competent) regulatory authority, details on the assessment procedure (based on quality, efficacy and safety criteria) and the grounds for approval or rejection of the application, and also the circumstances where a marketing authorization already granted may be withdrawn, suspended or revoked. Process of reviewing and assessing the dossier to support a medicinal product in view of its marketing (also called licensing, registration, approval, etc.), finalized by granting of a document also called marketing authorization (MA) (equivalent: product license). This process is performed within a legislative framework which defines the requirements necessary for application to the concerned (competent) regulatory authority, details on the assessment procedure (based on quality, efficacy and safety criteria) and the grounds for approval or rejection of the application, and also the circumstances where a marketing authorization already granted may be withdrawn, suspended or revoked. The application dossier for marketing authorization is called a New Drug Application (NDA) in the USA or Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) in the European Union and other countries, or simply registration dossier. Basically, this consists of a dossier with data proving that the drug has quality, efficacy and safety properties suitable for the intended use, additional administrative documents, samples of finished product or related substances and reagents necessary to perform analyses of finished product as described in that dossier. The content and format of the dossier must follow rules as defined by the competent authorities. For example, since 2003, the authorities in the United States, the European Union and Japan ask for the Common Technical Document (CTD) format, and more recently, its electronic version – the electronic Common Technical Document (eCTD).