Search Legislation

Advanced Search

The Human Medicines Regulations 2012

Changes to legislation:

The Human Medicines Regulations 2012, Section 48 is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 09 June 2025. There are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. Changes that have been made appear in the content and are referenced with annotations. Help about Changes to Legislation

Close

Changes to Legislation

Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. Changes and effects are recorded by our editorial team in lists which can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area. Where those effects have yet to be applied to the text of the legislation by the editorial team they are also listed alongside the legislation in the affected provisions. Use the ‘more’ link to open the changes and effects relevant to the provision you are viewing.

View outstanding changes

Changes and effects yet to be applied to Regulation 48:

Changes and effects yet to be applied to the whole Instrument associated Parts and Chapters:

Whole provisions yet to be inserted into this Instrument (including any effects on those provisions):

Application of this PartU.K.

This section has no associated Explanatory Memorandum

48.—(1) This Part applies to relevant medicinal products.

(2) In this Part—

F1...

[F2“excluded reference product” means—

(a)

a medicinal product authorised on the basis that it was a generic medicinal product;

(b)

a medicinal product authorised on the basis that one or more of the circumstances listed in Article 10(3) of the 2001 Directive or regulation 52(1)(b) applied; or

(c)

a biological medicinal product authorised on the basis that it did not meet a condition for being a generic medicinal product for any of the reasons described in Article 10(4) of the 2001 Directive or regulation [F353B(1)];]

[F4“generic medicinal product”, in relation to a reference medicinal product for an application for—

(a)

a UKMA(NI) or [F5UKMA(UK)(Category 2)], has the meaning given in Article 10(2)(b) of the 2001 Directive;

(b)

a [F6UKMA(UK)(Category 1)], means a medicinal product—

(i)

that has the same qualitative and quantitative composition in active substances as the reference medicinal product;

(ii)

that has the same pharmaceutical form as the reference medicinal product; and

(iii)

whose bioequivalence with the reference medicinal product has been demonstrated by appropriate bioavailability studies;]

[F7“parallel import licence” means a licence that is granted by the licensing authority under this Part authorising the holder to place on the market a medicinal product imported in to the United Kingdom from an EEA State where that product—

(a)

has been granted an EU marketing authorisation or a marketing authorisation in an EEA State under the 2001 Directive; and

(b)

is essentially similar to a product that has been granted a UK marketing authorisation;]

“relevant medicinal product” means a medicinal product that is not—

(a)

a registrable homoeopathic medicinal product; or

(b)

a traditional herbal medicinal product; and

[F8“reference medicinal product” means—

(a)

in relation to an application for a UKMA(NI), a medicinal product—

(i)

authorised for sale or supply in Northern Ireland under regulation 49(1)(a), in accordance with the provisions of regulation 50; or

(ii)

in relation to which an EU marketing authorisation or a marketing authorisation granted by a member State pursuant to the 2001 Directive is or has been in force,

but which is not an excluded reference product;

(b)

F9...

(c)

in relation to an application for a UKMA(UK), a medicinal product—

(i)

authorised under regulation 49(1)(a) for sale or supply in the whole of the United Kingdom, whether by virtue of one or more UK marketing authorisations, in accordance with the provisions of regulation 50[F10, ]

(ii)

F11...

but which is not an excluded reference product;]

[F12(3) In this Part, references to a medicinal product to be imported that is “essentially similar to a product that has been granted a UK marketing authorisation” are to be read as references to a medicinal product to be imported that—

(a)has been manufactured to the same formulation as a product that has been granted a UK marketing authorisation (“the UK product”);

(b)contains the same active ingredients as the UK product;

(c)has the same therapeutic effect as the UK product,

and for the purposes of sub-paragraph (a), any differences in a product's formulation are to be ignored in so far as they are considered to be immaterial by the licensing authority.

(4) For the purposes of the definition of generic medicinal product—

(a)the different salts, esters, ethers, isomers, mixtures of isomers, complexes or derivatives of an active substance are considered to be the same active substance, unless they differ significantly in properties with regard to safety or efficacy; and

(b)the various immediate-release oral pharmaceutical forms are considered to be the same pharmaceutical form.

(5) When a medicinal product has been granted a UK marketing authorisation under regulation 49(1)(a) in accordance with the provisions of regulation 50 (“initial marketing authorisation”), any additional strengths, pharmaceutical forms, administration routes, presentations, variations and extensions in relation to which a UK marketing authorisation is granted under regulation 49(1)(a), or which are included in the initial UK marketing authorisation, belong to the same “global marketing authorisation”.

(6) Paragraph (7) applies if a medicinal product—

(a)belongs to a global marketing authorisation but is not the initial marketing authorisation; and

(b)is used as a reference medicinal product in accordance with regulations 51 to 53B.

(7) Where this paragraph applies, the medicinal product is treated for the purposes of the application of regulation [F1351B(1) and (6)] as if it had been authorised on the date of authorisation of the medicinal product to which the initial marketing authorisation relates.

F14(8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F15(9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

Textual Amendments

Back to top

Options/Help

Print Options

You have chosen to open The Whole Instrument

The Whole Instrument you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.

Would you like to continue?

You have chosen to open The Whole Instrument as a PDF

The Whole Instrument you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download.

Would you like to continue?

You have chosen to open The Whole Instrument without Schedules

The Whole Instrument without Schedules you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.

Would you like to continue?

You have chosen to open The Whole Instrument without Schedules as a PDF

The Whole Instrument without Schedules you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download.

Would you like to continue?

You have chosen to open the Whole Instrument

The Whole Instrument you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.

Would you like to continue?

You have chosen to open the Whole Instrument without Schedules

The Whole Instrument without Schedules you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.

Would you like to continue?

You have chosen to open Schedules only

The Schedules you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.

Would you like to continue?

Close

Legislation is available in different versions:

Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.

Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.

Close

See additional information alongside the content

Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.

Close

Opening Options

Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once

Close

Explanatory Memorandum

Explanatory Memorandum sets out a brief statement of the purpose of a Statutory Instrument and provides information about its policy objective and policy implications. They aim to make the Statutory Instrument accessible to readers who are not legally qualified and accompany any Statutory Instrument or Draft Statutory Instrument laid before Parliament from June 2004 onwards.

Close

More Resources

Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • correction slips
  • links to related legislation and further information resources
Close

Impact Assessments

Impact Assessments generally accompany all UK Government interventions of a regulatory nature that affect the private sector, civil society organisations and public services. They apply regardless of whether the regulation originates from a domestic or international source and can accompany primary (Acts etc) and secondary legislation (SIs). An Impact Assessment allows those with an interest in the policy area to understand:

  • Why the government is proposing to intervene;
  • The main options the government is considering, and which one is preferred;
  • How and to what extent new policies may impact on them; and,
  • The estimated costs and benefits of proposed measures.
Close

Timeline of Changes

This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.

Close

More Resources

Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as made version that was used for the print copy
  • correction slips

Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including:

  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • links to related legislation and further information resources

The data on this page is available in the alternative data formats listed: