Assessment times for national variations 2026

14 September 2026

Variations for human medicinal products are divided in three types of variations:

Type IA variations

Type IB variations

Type II variations

 

Variations for the veterinary medicinal products applied for before 28th of January 2022 are also divided into Type IA / IB / II, while the variations applied for after 28th of January 2022 are divided into VNRA, VRA reduced, VRA standard and VRA extended, according to the new regulation for veterinary medicinal products . Types IA / IB / II and VNRA / VRA for the veterinary medicinal products are broken down according to the target assessment times:

Type IA and VNRA variations: 30 days

Type IB and VRA reduced: 60 days

Type II and VRA standard/extended: 150 days

 

The assessment times reported are calculated in the following way:

Assessment times for type IA and VNRA variations: The assessment time is measured against the target time of 30 days from the date on which we receive the application until the date of determination (grant or refusal).

Assessment times for type IB and VRA reduced variations: The assessment time is measured against the target time of 60 days from the start of procedure until the date of determination (grant or refusal), excluding any clock-stop days.

Assessment times for type II VRA standard/extended variations: The assessment time is measured against the target time of 150 days from the date on which we receive the application until the date of determination (grant or refusal), excluding any clock-stop days.

For Q2 2026, we make the following observations for variations for human medicinal products:

Type IA variations: In 2026, the share of variations assessed within the target time has been 91 %, while in 2025 was 96 %.

Type IB variations: In 2026, the share of variations assessed within the target time has been 87 %, while in 2025 was 84 %.

Type II variations: In 2026, the share of variations assessed within the target time has been 38 %, while in 2025 was 68 %.

 

For Q2 2026, we make the following observations for variations for veterinary medicinal products:

Type IA and VNRA variations: In 2026, the share of variations assessed within the target time has been 72 %, while in 2025 was 62 %.

Type IB and VRA reduced variations: In 2026, the share of variations assessed within the target time has been 100 %, while in 2025 was 60 %.

Type II and VRA standard/extended variations: In 2026, the share of variations assessed within the target time has been 76 %, while in 2025 was 39 %.

 

The low compliance for Type II variations is due to the completion of older cases. We expect to reach 95% compliance in 2027.

 

Type IA and VNRA variations

Assessment time for human medicinal products in 2026 for type IA variations as at end-June 2025: 91 % of the cases finished within the performance requirement's maximum of 30 days (24 days on average).

Assessment time for veterinary medicinal products in 2026 for type IA and VNRA variations as at end-June 2026: 72 % of the cases finished within the performance requirement's maximum of 30 days (48 days on average).

Chart 1. Assessment times for type IA and VNRA variations

See table 1-2 for type IA variations

Table 1. Type IA notifications - Human medicines

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total assessment time for type IA variations - HUM

Average assessment time

Target days

Difference between assessment time and target days

No. of cases measured

No. of cases within target

Share of cases within target in per cent

No. of drug IDs

3rd quarter 2024

22

30

-8

415

393

95

4th quarter 2024

10

30

-20

295

277

94

1st quarter 2025

20

30

-10

170

158

93

2nd quarter 2025

25

30

-5

789

778

99

3rd quarter 2025

10

30

-20

88

88

100

4th quarter 2025

16

30

-14

179

151

84

1st quarter 2026

21

30

-9

506

492

97

2nd quarter 2026

30

30

0

279

713

256

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 2. Type IA, VNRA notifications - Veterinary medicines

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total assessment time for type IA/VNRA variations - VET

Average assessment time

Target days

Difference between assessment time and target days

No. of cases measured

No. of cases within target

Share of cases within target in per cent

No. of drug IDs

3rd quarter 2024

69

30

39

76

35

46

4th quarter 2024

53

30

23

101

51

50

1st quarter 2025

81

30

51

69

23

33

2nd quarter 2025

51

30

21

24

16

67

3rd quarter 2025

6

30

-24

36

36

100

4th quarter 2025

54

30

24

27

22

81

1st quarter 2026

38

30

8

23

20

87

2nd quarter 2026

55

30

25

31

19

61

Type IB and VRA reduced variations

Assessment time for human medicinal products in 2026 for type IB variations as at end-June 2026: 87 % of the cases finished within the performance requirement's maximum of 60 days (36 days on average):

Assessment time for veterinary medicinal products in 2026 for type IB and VRA reduced variations as at end-June 2026: 100 % of the cases finished within the performance requirement's maximum of 60 days (22 days on average):

 

Chart 2. Assessment times for type IB and VRA reduced variations

See table 3-4 for type IB variations

Table 3. Type IB variations - Human medicines

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total assessment time for type IB variations - HUM

Average assessment time

Target days

Difference between assessment time and target days

No. of cases measured

No. of cases within target

Share of cases within target in per cent

No. of drug IDs

3rd quarter 2024

60

60

0

256

227

89

4th quarter 2024

35

60

-25

272

239

88

1st quarter 2025

48

60

-12

364

285

78

2nd quarter 2025

44

60

-16

239

200

84

3rd quarter 2025

58

60

-2

250

214

86

4th quarter 2025

20

60

-40

114

114

100

1st quarter 2026

48

60

-12

111

93

84

2nd quarter 2026

21

60

-39

89

81

91

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 4. Type IB, VRA reduced variations - Veterinary medicines

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total assessment time for type IB/VRA reduced variations - VET

Average assessment time

Target days

Difference between assessment time and target days

No. of cases measured

No. of cases within target

Share of cases within target in per cent

No. of drug IDs

3rd quarter 2024

41

60

-19

4

3

75

4th quarter 2024

112

60

52

12

8

67

1st quarter 2025

129

60

69

14

6

43

2nd quarter 2025

199

60

139

6

4

67

3rd quarter 2025

115

60

55

17

9

53

4th quarter 2025

38

60

-22

10

9

90

1st quarter 2026

25

60

-35

17

17

100

2nd quarter 2026

17

60

-43

11

11

100

Type II and VRA standard/extended variations

Assessment time for human medicinal products in 2026 for type II variations as at end-June 2026: 38 % of the cases finished within the performance requirement's maximum of 150 days (196 days on average).

Assessment time for veterinary medicinal products in 2026 for type II variations as at end-June 2026: 76 % of the cases finished within the performance requirement's maximum of 150 days (135 days on average).

 

Chart 3. Assessment times for type II and VRA standard/extended variations

See table 5-6 for type II variations

Table 5. Type II variations - Human medicines

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total assessment time for type II variations - HUM

Average assessment time

Target days

Difference between assessment time and target days

No. of cases measured

No. of cases within target

Share of cases within target in per cent

No. of drug IDs

3rd quarter 2024

194

150

44

164

118

72

4th quarter 2024

328

150

178

88

25

28

1st quarter 2025

209

150

59

130

79

61

2nd quarter 2025

156

150

6

37

26

70

3rd quarter 2025

163

150

13

101

76

75

4th quarter 2025

249

150

99

9

8

89

1st quarter 2026

235

150

85

38

5

13

2nd quarter 2026

112

150

-38

18

16

89

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 6. Type II, VRA standard variations - Veterinary medicines

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total assessment time for type II/VRA standard variations - VET

Average assessment time

Target days

Difference between assessment time and target days

No. of cases measured

No. of cases within target

Share of cases within target in per cent

No. of drug IDs

3rd quarter 2024

156

150

6

12

8

67

4th quarter 2024

227

150

77

24

12

50

1st quarter 2025

208

150

58

25

9

36

2nd quarter 2025

174

150

24

21

8

38

3rd quarter 2025

184

150

34

24

9

38

4th quarter 2025

188

150

38

23

10

43

1st quarter 2026

172

150

22

6

4

67

2nd quarter 2026

115

150

-35

11

9

82

 

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