Basic↦Ethics and Laws↦Authorities↦Swissmedic
What is it? Why is it important?
Swissmedic is the Swiss authority regarding the licensing, authorization, and/or monitoring of therapeutic products, including:
- Human medicine
- Veterinary medicine
- Complementary & herbal medicine
- Medical device
Core competencies include to:
- Approve studies. In comparison to EC, Swissmedic only approves higher risk studies, such as:
- Studies with Medicinal Products (MP) that have risk-category B and C (ClinO)
- Studies with Medical Devices (MD) that have risk category A2 and C (ClinO-MD)
- Issue licences for the manufacturing of MPs
- Authorise MPs to be sold on the Swiss market
- Inspect studies and their compliance with regulatory requirements
- Monitor the safety and quality of MPs/MDs in studies and on the open market
- Inspect manufacturing companies to evaluate the quality of MPs/MDs
- Issue information aimed at healthcare professionals and patients
- Cooperate with national and international agencies
More
In comparison to MP authorisation requirements, Medical Devices do not undergo official Swissmedic authorisation procedures. For devices, Switzerland has taken over the EU system of compliance and assessment certification (e.g. based on bilateral agreements). The visible result of a compliance assessment is the so-called CE label, which permits medical devices to be placed / sold on the market, both within the EU and Switzerland.
Swissmedic is attached to the Federal Department of Home Affairs.
What do I need to do?
As a SP-INV and based on the risk-category of your study, submit your study to Swissmedic for approval.
Submission can be done concurrently with the EC submission. EC submission is required for all studies irrespective of the risk-category of the study.
As a SP-INV or Site-INV, ensure that the protection of study participants always takes priority over any scientific or financial interest.
Where can I get help?
Your local CTU↧ can support you with experienced staff regarding this topic
Basel, Departement Klinische Forschung, CTU, dkf.unibas.ch
Lugano, Clinical Trials Unit, CTU-EOC, www.ctueoc.ch
Bern, Clinical Trials Unit, CTU, www.ctu.unibe.ch
Geneva, Clinical Research Center, CRC, crc.hug.ch
Lausanne, Clinical Research Center, CRC, www.chuv.ch
St. Gallen, Clinical Trials Unit, CTU, www.kssg.ch
Zürich, Clinical Trials Center, CTC, www.usz.ch
External Links
Swissmedic – see in particular
- Human medicines / Clinical trials
- Medical devices / Clinical trials
References
ICH GCP E6(R2) – see in particular article
- Art. 1.49 Definition regulatory authorities
KOFAM: Coordination portal for human research – see in particular
- Online wizard for risk categorisation