Mexico: New evaluation option for new compositions

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2026

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Mexico: New evaluation option for new compositions

In February 2017, new guidelines were published by the Federal Commission for the Protection Against Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS) that should be followed by medicaments or drugs considered as new molecules before the new molecules committee for evaluation, including the non-person modalities.

Such guidelines define if a drug or medicine should be evaluated under the person modalities or non-person modalities, according to the current law and the risk, complexity or nature of the product.

It is worth mentioning that the committee of new molecules for evaluation define that a new molecule is a natural or synthetic substance that is an active drug in a medicine, not previously used in Mexico, wherein the safety, effectiveness and therapeutic uses are not completely documented in the scientific bibliography.

On the other hand, consider that the previous practice to evaluate a medicine was under person modalities, wherein the applicant for a drug or medicine together with his committee appear before the New Molecules Committee presenting the information to support the quality, safety and effectiveness of product.

With the non-person modalities, the applicant should prove to COFEPRIS the information to support the quality, safety and effectiveness of a product to be evaluated without appearing before the Committee of New Molecules.

The considerations that the applicant should take into account about the characteristics of the product are:

a) first marketing authorisation in the world;

b) new marketing authorisation in Mexico (product authorised by other country);

c) new combination with a fixed dose; and

d) therapeutic indication (including: bordering of therapeutic indication, changes in the treatment line).

If the product was evaluated by some international sanitary agency with which COFEPRIS has an agreement, the applicant should consider the option of non-present modalities. Some such agencies are the Food and Drug Administration of USA (FDA), Health Canada, European Medicines Agency (EMA), Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products (Swissmedic).

Agustin Azcatl

Olivares

Pedro Luis Ogazón No 17

Col San Angel

01000 México DF

Tel: +5255 53 22 30 00

Fax: +5255 53 22 30 01

olivlaw@olivares.com.mx

www.olivares.com.mx

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

VO, which has offices in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, is the second European IP firm to secure external backing this week
The Bardehle Pagenberg attorneys-at-law discuss the firm’s Managing IP EMEA Awards 2026 success, Unified Patent Court litigation strategy, and evolving European patent trends
A patent battle between two legal tech companies and a loss for Elon Musk’s xAI against OpenAI were also among the top talking points
With drug prices a hot topic in the US, courts are seemingly more reluctant to prevent the entry of generics to the market
Academic Eden Sarid joins us during Pride Month to discuss queer expression and IP law, Patagonia v Pattie Gonia, and how queer and AI-generated creations both pose novelty concerns
Patent attorney Michael Henson joins the firm to lead its freshly launched blockchain and digital assets practice
A dispute over mammogram technology, and a development in the case between GSK and Moderna were also among the top talking points in recent weeks
With rankings for Western Europe set to be published on June 25, we sat down with our research lead to find out what practitioners and law firms can expect
Peter O’Sullivan, a professional services executive, says he is looking forward to helping Pearce IP become the leading life sciences firm in Australia and New Zealand
Matteo Di Lernia, advocate at LCA Studio Legale, unpicks the CJEU’s ruling in M.M. Ristorazione v Villa Ramazzini, including its impact on litigation strategies
Gift this article