Routes of the same type are on the same row. Compare other markets.
13 pathway types exist in both markets: full application, new active substance, full or mixed application, known active substance, generic application, biosimilar application, non-prescription application, non-prescription monograph and more. The table lines up the routes of each type.
Germany: Centralised marketing authorisation, new active substance, 210 days. Canada: New drug submission (new active substance), 300 days. These are official targets, not actual review times.
| Pathway type | Germany | Canada |
|---|---|---|
| Full application, new active substance | National marketing authorisation (new active substance)§ 21 AMG · fee €52,500 Centralised marketing authorisation, new active substancetarget 210 days · fee €865,200 Centralised authorisation of advanced therapy medicinal productstarget 210 days · fee €865,200 National authorisation of vaccines, sera, blood products and allergens (Paul-Ehrlich-Institut)§§ 21, 25 Abs. 8, 77 Abs. 2 AMG · fee €2,000 | New drug submission (new active substance)NDS · target 300 days · fee CA$616,593 |
Not legal or regulatory advice. Check the current official rules before you act. Parts of the approvals data are official open data reused under open licences. Data sources.
| Full or mixed application, known active substance | Centralised marketing authorisation, known active substance or new fixed combinationtarget 210 days · fee €690,700 Centralised hybrid applicationtarget 210 days · fee €426,100 | New drug submission or supplement (known substance)NDS / SNDS · target 300 days · fee CA$319,282 |
| Generic application | National generic authorisation§ 24b AMG · fee €16,000 Centralised generic applicationtarget 210 days · fee €177,900 | Abbreviated new drug submission (generic)ANDS · target 180 days · fee CA$71,953 |
| Biosimilar application | Centralised biosimilar applicationtarget 210 days · fee €732,400 | Biosimilar new drug submissionNDS (biosimilar) · target 300 days |
| Well-established use | National authorisation based on literature (well-established use)§ 22 Abs. 3 AMG · fee €22,100 Centralised well-established use applicationtarget 210 days · fee €780,900 | - |
| Non-prescription application | Prescription status and switch to non-prescription§ 48 AMG; AMVV | DIN application with supporting dataDINA / DINB · target 210 days · fee CA$319,282 |
| Non-prescription monograph | Standard licence (monograph route)§ 36 AMG; StandZV | DIN application under a labelling standard or monographDINA / DINB (labelling standard) · target 60 days · fee CA$1,945 |
| Traditional or herbal registration | Traditional herbal medicine registration§§ 39a to 39d AMG · fee €15,600 | - |
| Conditional or accelerated approval | Conditional marketing authorisationtarget 210 days | Notice of compliance with conditionsNOC/c · target 200 days |
| Approval under exceptional circumstances | Authorisation under exceptional circumstancestarget 210 days |
| Priority or accelerated review | Accelerated assessmenttarget 150 days | Priority reviewPriority · target 180 days |
| Intensive development support designation | - |
| Rolling or phased review | - |
| Orphan or rare disease designation | Orphan designationtarget 90 days | - |
| Pediatric plan or incentive | Paediatric investigation plantarget 60 days | - |
| Early or compassionate access | Compassionate use programme§ 21 Abs. 2 Nr. 3 AMG; AMHV | Special Access Program (drugs)SAP · relies on EU, US |
| Reliance route, abridged review | - | Ministerial reliance order (foreign decision deeming)SOR/2026-162 · relies on US, EU, CH, GB, AU |
| Reliance route, recognition or verification | Mutual recognition procedure (Germany as reference or concerned member state)§ 25b Abs. 2 AMG · fee €48,600 · relies on EU Mutual recognition proceduretarget 90 days | - |
| Work-sharing or joint review | Decentralised procedure with Germany as reference member state§ 25b Abs. 3 AMG · fee €92,800 Decentralised proceduretarget 210 days | Access Consortium work sharingNASWSI · target 300 days · relies on AU, SG, CH, GB Project Orbis (cancer drugs)Orbis · relies on US, AU, SG, BR, CH, GB |
| Device: exempt or self-declared |
| Device: premarket approval by the regulator | - | Medical device licence, Class IIIMDL Class III · target 60 days · fee CA$30,169 Medical device licence, Class IVMDL Class IV · target 75 days · fee CA$30,713 |
| Device: conformity assessment by a certification body | - |
| Device: registration or licence with the regulator | - | Medical device licence, Class IIMDL Class II · target 15 days · fee CA$643 |
| Other route | Homeopathic medicine registration§§ 38, 39 AMG · fee €6,400 Official batch release by the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut§ 32 AMG · relies on EU Hospital exemption for advanced therapy medicines§ 4b AMG · fee €4,250 Approval of tissue preparations§ 21a AMG · fee €2,000 Special national authorisation for a device without CE marking§ 7 MPDG · fee €250 DiGA fast track: listing of digital health applications for reimbursement§ 139e SGB V; DiGAV · target 91 days · fee €3,000 Listing of digital care applications (DiPA)§ 78a SGB XI; DiPAV · target 91 days · fee €3,000 Integral drug-device combination authorised as a medicinetarget 210 days |