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Swissmedic · Switzerland · Rule change

Adaptations required for issuing establishment licences and GMP certificates for manufacturers of active substances

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From now on, active substances listed in section 3.8 of establishment licences and GMP certificates for manufacturers must be registered in advance in the European Medicines Agency's Substance Management Services (SMS) active substances database. As of 15 November 2026, Swissmedic will no longer issue such licences or certificates unless submitted active substances are pre-registered in SMS, applying to new applications, licence changes, and post-inspection documents. Manufacturers must ensure their active substances are correctly registered in SMS and submit lists with SMS IDs in English when applying for or modifying licences. Unregistered substances can be submitted for registration via the EMA Service Desk.

Dates and deadlines
Applies from
1 Oct 2026
From Swissmedic

From now on, owing to modifications in the EudraGMDP database, active substances that have to be listed in section 3.8 of establishment licences and GMP certificates will have to be registered in advance in the Substance Management Services (SMS) active substances database of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) (SPOR Web UI (europa.eu)).

As of 15 November 2026, Swissmedic will no longer be able to issue establishment licences and GMP certificates with a list of active substances if the submitted active substances have not been registered in advance in the SMS active substances database. This applies to both hardcopy and electronic versions (SwissGMDP or EudraGMDP).

This principle applies regardless of whether documents are being issued for the first time (application for first establishment licence) or in response to applications for a change to an existing licence or following an inspection. It is therefore essential that all active substances listed in Swiss manufacturers’ establishment licences / GMP certificates are registered in the SMS database.

As of today, manufacturers of active substances must:

- Ensure that active substances listed in their establishment licence under section 3.8 of form I-301.AA.05-A02-A03d Gesuch Betriebsbewilligung - Zusatzblatt Arzneimittel (inkl. Blut) [Application for an establishment licence – medicinal products supplementary sheet (including blood)] are correctly registered in the SMS database

- When making a new application for an establishment licence or a change to a licence, submit to Swissmedic a list of their active substances as registered in the SMS database (name + SMS ID) in English under section 3.8 of form I-301.AA.05-A02-A03d Gesuch Betriebsbewilligung - Zusatzblatt Arzneimittel (inkl. Blut) [Application for an establishment licence – medicinal products supplementary sheet (including blood)]

- Communicate to Swissmedic a list of active substances as registered in the SMS database (name + SMS ID) by sending a hardcopy letter citing the application number to Swissmedic, Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products, Operational Support Services Division, Hallerstrasse 7, 3012 Bern, Switzerland or an email to inspectorates@swissmedic.ch if their organisation has a pending application for an establishment licence for the manufacture of active substances and the active substances in question have to be referenced in the establishment licence or the organisation has just been inspected.

Active substances already registered in the SMS active substances database can be downloaded as an Excel table (SMS Export lists).

If any active substance has not yet been registered in SMS, companies can submit a request for registration of an active substance via the EMA Service Desk using the Substance Request Form.

Excerpt from the official page. The original is authoritative. Continue reading at Swissmedic ↗