Prescription medicines: registration of new chemical entities in Australia

Each year, TGA registers approximately 40 new prescription medicines containing new active substances. We refer to these as New Chemical Entities (NCEs) or New Biological Entities (NBEs).

Some of these NCEs/NBEs are innovative or 'first-in-class', and have been made available to the public for the first time outside the controlled environment of a clinical trial.

This decision by TGA to register a NCE/NBE often comes after years of research and development and following a comprehensive review by TGA scientists and clinicians of the medicine's quality, safety and efficacy.

Throughout the year, we will be publishing information on the new prescription medicines as they are approved. However, it may still be some time before the sponsor (pharmaceutical company) decides to supply the product in Australia.

The trade name, active ingredient, and sponsor for each new prescription medicine reflects the information initially entered in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG).

Once an application has been accepted for evaluation by TGA, the approval time is defined as the number of TGA working days between commencement of evaluation and registration decision. TGA works to business target timeframes as well as to legislated timeframes for each category of application. Approval times are underpinned by legislation (see Therapeutic Goods Regulations 1990) and excludes public holidays, weekends, the time allocated to the sponsor to respond to requests for information, 'mutual clock stop' periods agreed with the sponsor, or other review activities.

Approval times are reported in the number of TGA working days for each new registration, along with the legislated timeframe (unless otherwise indicated) for that category of application in brackets.

Registration process

In relevant entries the database information notes the registration process:

Orphan drug: sponsors receive a fee waiver to help bring medicines for a small population to market

Priority review: involves faster TGA evaluation of vital and life-saving medicines for which a complete data dossier is available

Provisional registration: involves early access to vital and life-saving medicines through time-limited registration

Prescription medicines registrations database 

Visit our Prescription medicines registrations database to see the registration of NCEs and NBEs for each year.

Prescription medicines registrations