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Meeting requirements for over-the-counter (OTC) medicine tablets containing aspirin

OTC medicine monograph guidance.

Published
Last updated

Purpose

This guidance outlines the requirements for Australian market authorisation of tablets containing aspirin as a single active ingredient when applied for as an over-the-counter (OTC) New Medicine N2 application. 

Proposed medicines must comply with all aspects of this monograph relevant to their strength and dosage form to qualify for evaluation as an N2 application.

This guidance should be read in conjunction with Requirements for OTC new medicine N2 applications.

Legislation

Therapeutic Goods Order No. 78 - Standard for Tablets and Capsules (29/10/2008)

Therapeutic Goods Order No. 77 - Microbiological Standards for Medicines (22/09/2008)

Therapeutic Goods Order No. 80 - Child-Resistant Packaging Requirements for Medicines (27/08/2008)

Therapeutic Goods Act 1989

Active substance

This monograph only applies to medicines containing aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid; CAS No. 50-78-2) and excludes preparations containing any salts and derivatives of aspirin.

Dosage forms and strengths

Acceptable dosage forms and strengths are shown in the table below.

Active substanceDosage strengthsDosage forms (excludes sustained release dosage forms)

Aspirin

 

100 mgTablets*
300 mgTablets*
500 mgTablets+

* Chewable, dispersible, effervescent, uncoated and enteric coated tablets only.
+ Chewable, dispersible, effervescent and uncoated tablets only.

Indications

Therapeutic indications for inclusion in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG)

Required indications are shown in the table below.

Dosage form and strengthIndications
100 mg tabletsFor the treatment of patients with known cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease, as an antiplatelet agent for prophylaxis against acute myocardial infarction, unstable angina, transient ischaemic attack and cerebrovascular accident (stroke).
300mg 
or
500 mg tablets		Temporary relief of pain and/or inflammation associated with headache, migraine headache, tension headache, sinus pain, toothache, dental procedures, backache, muscular aches and pains, arthritis, osteoarthritis, rheumatic pain, period pain, fibrositis, neuralgia, sore throat, tennis elbow, and colds and flu. Reduces fever.

Label indications

Acceptable label indications are shown in the table below.

Dosage form and strengthLabel indications
100 mg tabletsReduces the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients with known cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease by helping to prevent blood clotting.*
300 mg
or
500 mg tablets

All or most of the indications below should be included on medicine labels. Label indications must not be restricted to, or emphasise, a single indication or subset of indications (e.g. cold and flu symptoms only, period pain only or headache only).

  • For the temporary relief of pain and/or inflammation associated with:
    • headache
    • migraine headache
    • tension headache
    • sinus pain
    • toothache
    • dental procedures
    • backache
    • muscular aches and pains
    • arthritis
    • rheumatic pain
    • menstruation/period pain
    • fibrositis
    • neuralgia
    • sore throat
    • tennis elbow
    • symptoms of colds and flu
  • Reduces fever.

*Permission is required, under Section 42DK of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989, for the use of claims relating to the cardiovascular or cerebrovascular systems on product labelling. Include a request for permission in the application cover letter.

Directions for use

Adults and children 12 years and over*

Dosages must be as shown in the table below.

Dosage form and strengthSingle doseDose intervalMaximum daily dose
100 mg tablet1 tabletOne tablet daily100 mg
300 mg tablet1-3 tabletsEvery 4-6 hours as requiredDo not exceed 12 tablets in 24 hours
500 mg tablet1-2 tabletsEvery 4-6 hours as requiredDo not exceed 8 tablets in 24 hours

*A higher minimum age can also be specified (e.g. Adults 18 years and over for 100 mg tablets).

  • Include the statement Do not give to children under x years (where 'x' years is the youngest age for which dosage instructions are included on the labels).
  • Enteric coated tablets should include the statement "Swallow whole. Do not crush or chew".

Labelling

Full scale, full colour draft labelling for each proposed pack size must be provided electronically with the application, for assessment of the product's presentation.

Labelling must comply with all relevant Australian requirements, as detailed in the document Requirements for OTC new medicine N2 applications, including all required warning statements.

Quality requirements

In addition to the requirements outlined in the document Requirements for OTC new medicines N2 applications, the following specific requirements apply to aspirin monograph medicines.

Finished product specifications

The finished product specifications must comply, at a minimum, with the relevant set of requirements below.

The requirements below include all relevant British Pharmacopoeia (BP) general monograph requirements and TGO 78 requirements. Further reference to these is not required. References to pharmacopeial monographs below refer to the current monograph at time of application.

Standard uncoated and chewable tablets

The tests and limits in the BP monograph Aspirin Tablets with the addition of:

  • tablet appearance
  • uniformity of dosage units (BP)
  • dissolution (with a limit of ≥70 % after 45 minutes as specified in the BP's Supplementary Chapter 1E Dissolution Testing of Solid Oral Dosage Forms)
  • microbiological quality, in compliance with TGO 77.

Dispersible tablets

The tests and limits in the BP monograph Dispersible Aspirin Tablets with the addition of:

  • tablet appearance
  • uniformity of dosage units (BP)
  • disintegration (as per the requirements for dispersible tablets in the BP general monograph Tablets)
  • fineness of dispersion (as per the requirements for dispersible tablets in the BP general monograph Tablets)
  • microbiological quality, in compliance with TGO 77.

Effervescent tablets

The tests and limits in the BP monograph Effervescent Soluble Aspirin Tablets with the addition of:

  • tablet appearance
  • uniformity of dosage units (BP)
  • microbiological quality, in compliance with TGO 77.

Enteric coated tablets

The tests and limits in the BP monograph Gastro-resistant Aspirin Tablets with the addition of:

  • tablet appearance
  • uniformity of dosage units (BP)
  • dissolution (with a limit of ≤ 5 % after 2 hours in acid and ≥ 70 % after 45 minutes+ in phosphate buffer)
  • microbiological quality, in compliance with TGO 77.

Container

Aspirin products must be sold in containers that comply with Therapeutic Goods Order No 80, Child Resistant Packaging Requirements for Medicines.

Related links

Requirements for OTC new medicines N2 applications (using OTC medicine monographs)
Topics

Page history

Show all page updates (2)

Title changed from 'OTC medicine monograph: Aspirin tablets for oral use' to 'Meeting requirements for over-the-counter (OTC) medicine tablets containing aspirin' as part of migration to new 'Guidance' content type:

  • Consistent ‘Purpose’ heading.
  • ‘Legislation’ section to clearly show which laws the Guidance relates to.
  • ‘Page history’ section replaces document version history.
  • New page navigation features.
  • Updated page summaries.
  • Complex images include long descriptions.
  • New ‘Save as PDF’ feature.

original publication.

Title changed from 'OTC medicine monograph: Aspirin tablets for oral use' to 'Meeting requirements for over-the-counter (OTC) medicine tablets containing aspirin' as part of migration to new 'Guidance' content type:

  • Consistent ‘Purpose’ heading.
  • ‘Legislation’ section to clearly show which laws the Guidance relates to.
  • ‘Page history’ section replaces document version history.
  • New page navigation features.
  • Updated page summaries.
  • Complex images include long descriptions.
  • New ‘Save as PDF’ feature.

original publication.

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