About Access
Access is a coalition of like-minded medium-sized regulatory authorities. The participating authorities face very similar challenges, such as increasing workload, increasing complexity and at the same time increasing pressure on the available resources.
The Consortium was renamed from the previous Australia-Canada-Singapore-Switzerland Consortium (ACSS) in October 2020, with the introduction of its newest consortium member, the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA). The MHRA will officially commence working with consortium partners as a full member on 1 January 2021. The new name reflects the group’s key aim of providing patients with timely access to high-quality, safe and effective therapeutic products in the member countries.
The members of the Access consists of health regulatory agencies from:
- Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) of Australia;
- Health Canada of Canada;
- Health Sciences Authority (HSA) of Singapore
- Swissmedic of Switzerland; and
- Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) of the United Kingdom (effective 1 Jan 2021)
The Consortium meets on a regular basis to exchange information on issues and challenges. The collaboration aims to better align the regulatory systems and reduce unnecessary duplication and differences.
The Consortium also explores opportunities for information and work-sharing initiatives.
For more information, please refer to the Terms of Reference143 KB.
Access working groups for therapeutic products