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

Arrival of Laura Alsonso, alongside a team of 11, will bring ‘significant value’ to ECIJA clients, says CEO
In the first of a two-part article, lawyers at Spruson & Ferguson and Marshall Gerstein provide an overview of China’s system for appealing against patent invalidation decisions
Lawyers and corporate leaders at INTA’s Business of M&A conference in New York discussed how cross-practice collaboration and early in-house involvement can help deals
Lily Li, partner at Morrison Foerster, shares how her litigation team helped secure victory at the ITC in a patent infringement case
Top talking points also included news of an appellate ruling concerning ‘Pisco’ and Indian drugmakers gearing up to launch generic versions of Ozempic as Novo Nordisk’s patent expires
The government’s keenly awaited view on AI and copyright has positive themes but leaves rights owners wanting, says Rebecca Newman at Addleshaw Goddard
While IP Australia’s updated manual could be favourable to computer-implemented inventions, stakeholders would like to see whether a consistent and reliable standard is followed during actual examination
UKIPO will remain a competitive option as long as efficient service continues
A future opt-out has not been ruled out, but practitioners warn that the UK could fall behind in the AI race
US patent lawyers say they are increasingly advising clients on China strategies as corporations seek to gain leverage in enforcement, licensing, and supply chain management
Gift this article