The Medicines (Fees Relating to Medicinal Products for Human Use) Amendment Regulations 1990

Amendment of regulation 9 of the principal Regulations

10.  For regulation 9 of the principal Regulations (applications for multiple variations) there shall be substituted the following—

“Applications for multiple variations

9.— (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) of this regulation, a separate fee shall be payable in respect of each variation of each provision of a licence or certificate applied for in any one application.

(2) In respect of a variation which does not require a full assessment of the application separate from that required in respect of another variation applied for in the same application, the fee payable shall be 50% of that payable in accordance with regulation 6 or regulation 7.

(3) In respect of a variation which is wholly consequential upon another variation of a provision of a licence or certificate which is applied for in the same application, no separate fee shall be payable.

Amendment of regulation 10 of, and additional regulation 10A to, the principal Regulations

11.— (1) In regulation 10 of the principal Regulations (renewal of licences) for “Subject to regulations 12, 16 and 20” there shall be substituted “Subject to regulations 10A, 12, 16 and 20”.

(2) After regulation 10 of the principal Regulations there shall be inserted the following regulation—

“Inspections in connection with multiple applications for renewal of licences

10A.   Where an inspection mentioned at regulation 10(b) of these Regulations is made at a site which has been named as a possible site for manufacture of a medicinal product by more than one applicant for a renewal of—

(a) a product licence and that site is located outside the United Kingdom; or

(b) a manufacturer’s licence and that site is located in the United Kingdom,

the fee in respect of that inspection shall be payable in equal proportions by each applicant for such renewal.”.

Amendment of regulation 11 of the principal Regulations

12.   In regulation 11 of the principal Regulations (renewal of certificates) for “£2,000” there shall be substituted “£3,400”.

Amendment of regulation 13 of the principal Regulations

13.   After paragraph (3) of regulation 13 to the principal Regulations (fees for inspections of sites located outside the United Kingdom) there shall be inserted the following—

“(3A) Where a fee is payable under paragraph (1) above in respect of an inspection of a site located in the United Kingdom, the fee shall be payable in equal proportions by each holder of a manufacturer’s licence in which that site is named as a possible site for manufacture of the medicinal product in respect of which the manufacturer’s licence is granted.”.

Amendment of regulation 15 of the principal Regulations

14.   Regulation 15 of the principal Regulations (time for payment of fees in connection with applications or inspections and refunds of such fees) shall be amended as follows—

(a) in regulation 15(1) for “Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) below” there shall be substituted “Subject to paragraphs (2), (3), (4) and to regulation 15A below”; and

(b) after paragraph (3) there shall be inserted—

“(4) Where regulation 2A(2) of these Regulations applies, there shall be payable at the time of the application the amount payable in accordance with these Regulations as in force at that time and paragraph (2) above shall have effect as respects the fee properly payable in accordance with regulation 2A(2).”;

(c) after paragraph (4) there shall be inserted the following Regulation—

“Time for payment of fees — applications made by small companies

15A.— (1) Schedule 2A to these Regulations shall have effect with respect to the fee payable in connection with an application made by or on behalf of a small company.

(2) For the purpose of these Regulations, a company is a small company if, for the financial year before that in which the application is made the amount of its turnover for the year is not more than 50% of the amount for the time being specified in section 248(1)(a) of the Companies Act 1985(1); and

(a) its balance sheet total (as defined in section 248(3) of that Act) is not more than the amount for the time being specified in section 248(1)(b) of that Act; or

(b) the average number of persons employed by the company in the financial year before that in which the application is made (determined on a weekly basis) does not exceed the amount for the time being specified in section 248(1)(c) of that Act.”.

Revocation of regulation 20(4) of the principal Regulations

15.   Regulation 20(4) of the principal Regulations (transitional provision) is hereby revoked.

Amendment of Part I of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations

16.   In paragraph 1 of Part I of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations (interpretation)—

(a) in the definition of “complex application”

(i) for sub-paragraph (g) there shall be substituted the following—

“(g) relates to a medicinal product which is a controlled release preparation except where the application is for a variation in connection with such preparation and does not relate to a matter mentioned in sub-paragraph (b), (c), (d), (f), (j), (k) or (n) of this definition.”;

(ii) at the end of sub-paragraph (j) there shall be deleted the word “or”;

(iii) after sub-paragraph (k) there shall be inserted the following sub-paragraphs—

“(l) relates to a medicinal product which is an influenza vaccine and in respect of which the manufacturer or the manufacturing process is different from that specified in any other product licence which the applicant holds in respect of that product;

(m) is for a product licence for a medicinal product which is an influenza vaccine, except where it relates only to an influenza vaccine containing a different strain or strains from that specified in any other product licence which the applicant holds; or

(n) is to vary a product licence and relates to a change in the formulation of the medicinal product comprising one or more of the following—

(i) a change in the quantity of that product’s active ingredient;

(ii) a change which necessitates in-vivo bioavailability studies to be performed on that product;

(iii) a change in that product’s preservative system; or

(iv) a change in two or more of that product’s excipients other than to colours or substances which are present only in trace amounts in the finished product.”;

(b) in the definition of “simple application”, after the word “applies”, there shall be inserted the following—

• “other than one for a product licence for a medicinal product which is a new strength of a product in respect of which a product licence has previously been granted in the United Kingdom;”.

Amendment of Part II of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations

17.   In Part II of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations (fees for applications for licences)—

(a) in paragraph 1 for “Subject to paragraphs 2 and 3 below” there shall be substituted “Subject to paragraphs 1A, 2 and 3 below”;

(b) in Column 2 of the Table in paragraph 1—

(i) for “£8,000” specified at entry 1(a) there shall be substituted “£13,600” and for “£40,000” specified at entry 1(b) there shall be substituted “£68,000”;

(ii) for “£6,000” specified at entry 2 there shall be substituted “£10,200”;

(iii) for “£3,000” specified at entry 3 there shall be substituted “£5,100”;

(iv) for “£1,500” specified at entry 4 there shall be substituted “£2,550”; and

(v) for “£1,500” specified at entry 5(a) there shall be substituted “£2,550” and for “£1,000” specified at entry 5(b) there shall be substituted “£1,700”;

(c) after paragraph 1 there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“1A.   Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 above, in the case of an article or substance to which Part II of the Medicines Act 1968 applies by virtue of the Medicines (Surgical Materials) Order 1971(2), the fee payable under these Regulations in respect of an application for a product licence made at the specific written invitation of the licensing authority shall be £250.”;

(d) in paragraph 4—

(i) in sub-paragraph (1)(a) for “£50” there shall be substituted “£85”;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (1)(b) for “£1,000” there shall be substituted “£1,700”; and

(e) in paragraph 5 for “£650” there shall be substituted “£1,105”.

Amendment of Part III of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations

18.   In Part III of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations (fees for applications for variations of licences)—

(a) in paragraph 1—

(i) for “paragraph 4 below” there shall be substituted “paragraphs 4 and 5 below”;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (a) for “£1,250” there shall be substituted “£2,125”; and

(iii) in sub-paragraph (b) for “£175” there shall be substituted “£300”;

(b) in paragraph 2(a) for “£50” there shall be substituted “£85” and in paragraph 2(b) for “£175” there shall be substituted “£300”;

(c) in paragraph 3 for “£175” there shall be substituted “£300”;

(d) in paragraph 4 for “£50” there shall be substituted “£85”;

(e) after paragraph 4 there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“Identical variations

5.   Where more than one application (not being a complex application) is made at the same time for the variation of a product licence, a manufacturer’s licence or a wholesale dealer’s licence for medicinal products, where the applications are for identical variations the fee payable under regulation 6(a) of these Regulations—

(a) in connection with the first application considered by the licensing authority shall be the appropriate amount specified in this Part of this Schedule;

(b) in connection with each of the other applications shall be 50% of that amount.”.

Amendment of Part IV of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations

19.   In Part IV of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations (fees for applications for renewals of licences)—

(a) in paragraph 1—

(i) before the words “The fee payable under Regulation 10(a)”, there shall be inserted the words “Subject to the provisions of paragraph 1A below”;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (a) for “£100” there shall be substituted “£170”;

(iii) in sub-paragraph (b) for “£500” there shall be substituted “£850”;

(iv) in sub-paragraph (c) for “£750” there shall be substituted “£1,275”;

(v) in sub-paragraph (d) for “£500” there shall be substituted “£850”;

(b) after paragraph 1 there shall be inserted—

“1A.   Where more than one application is made at the same time for the renewal of a product licence for medicinal products which are identical except for their respective strengths, the fee payable under regulation 10(a) of these Regulations—

(a) in connection with the first application considered by the licensing authority shall be the appropriate amount specified in paragraph 1 of this Part of this Schedule;

(b) in connection with each of the other applications shall be 50% of that amount.”;

(c) in paragraph 2—

(i) in sub-paragraph (a) for “£50” there shall be substituted “£85”;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (b) for “£500” there shall be substituted “£850”;

(d) in paragraph 3 for “£325” there shall be substituted “£550”.”

(1)

1985 c. 6, as modified by the Companies (Modified Accounts) Amendment Regulations 1986 (S.I. 1986/1865). The figures currently specified in section 248(1)(a), (b) and (c) are, respectively, £2 million, £975,000 and 50.

(2)

S.I. 1971/1267.