The Therapeutic Goods Administration under the Australian Department of Health has upgraded its over-the-counter medicines online application system to simplify the application process for businesses.

Made available online yesterday, the new system enables applicants to submit their dossier and covering letter online, instead of on paper.

The Department expects to cut down application processing time with the upgraded portal. For example, an evaluation of a C2-type or low risk medicine application will fall from 105 working days to 90 working days.

The team targets to complete initial evaluation of C2-type applications within 60 working days.

The upgraded system provides the following new features:

built-in validation ‘rules’ that provide prompts on information that is required to be submitted with an application

clear prompts as to the supporting documents required for each application category

the ability to submit supporting documentation as electronic attachments directly through the system