Medicines Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency
This information is common to all procedures. You should read the guidance for your specific pathway for any extra information or steps that might be required. The pathway that you follow will depend on your intended market and the type of application you are making.
Find out more about the different national and international procedures
Application process
You should submit all UK and Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) national applications through the MHRA Submissions Portal.
If you have any questions about the Submissions Portal, email submissions@mhra.gov.uk.
You should submit your application using the electronic Common Technical Document (eCTD).
Use the to help you with your application. You should also use our eAF and cover letter tool to determine what information you need to include in your application. If you do not include the correct information your application will not be validated.
We check that eCTD submissions are technically valid using the Lorenz Docubridge validation tool which strictly aligns validation against ICH international standards and eCTD 3.2 regional requirements. We recommend that you use a validation tool to check your submission.
You can check the validation of your submission before making it using the LORENZ eValidator Basic validation software for eCTD and more. Your MHRA agent will use the Lorenz docuBridge eCTD tool to technically validate the submission against ICH international standards, eCTD 3.2 EU regional requirements, once we receive it.
For more information on the standards, see:
If you have any questions about submitting your application, email ris.na@mhra.gov.uk.
PL number
If you are applying for a UK, Great Britain or Northern Ireland licence, you must get a PL number from MHRA Submissions or by emailing PLNumberAllocation@mhra.gov.ukbefore you submit your application.
Please note the following prefixes and their definitions:
- PL:a product licensed by the MHRA that covers the whole of the UK, coming into effect from 1 January 2025
- PLNI:a product licensed by the MHRA that covers Northern Ireland (NI) only as the territorial application.
- PLGB:a product licensed by the MHRA that covers Great Britain (GB) only as the territorial application
Active substance master files (ASMFs)
ASMFs holders must submit their dossier to the MHRA. It is your responsibility to make sure you submit the ASMF either before you submit your application or at the same time. Your application will not be valid without it.
Submission of a new ASMF and any update to an ASMF should be made by the ASMF holder using MHRA Submissions. If you have any questions about MHRA Submissions, email submissions@mhra.gov.uk.
You can read our guidance about the submission of ASMFs.
Certificates of Suitability (CEPs) continue to be acceptable in support of UK and GB national authorisations.
Summary of product characteristics (SmPC)
You should submit the summary of product characteristics (SmPC) to the MHRA in the correct format using the . If you do not use this template your submission will be rejected. You must not alter these templates in any way, other than inserting the relevant information.
Established medicines
For established active substance marketing authorisation applications (MAAs).
Process for review
Read more about the Established Medicines licensing process changes.
Watch the video of the Established Medicines licensing process changes webinar
Checklists - established active substance MAAs
For established active substances within scope of the relevant checklist, we encourage applicants to submit the following documents with the initial submissions. The main purpose of these checklists is to promote right first time submissions.
- Checklist and abstract for bioequivalence studies and/or biowaivers
- Checklist for product information
UK Public Assessment Report (UKPAR) templates
The lay summary of the UK PAR forms are completed by the Applicant of a National Abridged applications only following the Request for Further Information (RFI) from the MHRA.