Prescription medicines
Find out about prescription medicines and how they are regulated.
A prescription medicine is a medicine that can only be made available to a patient on the written instruction of an authorised health professional. Examples of prescription medicines include blood pressure tablets, cancer medicine and strong painkillers.
All prescription medicines are registered in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) and can be identified by an AUST-R number on the label.
Key information
- For more detailed information on prescription medicines go to Prescription medicines overview.
- For information on obtaining market authorisation go to Supply a prescription medicine.
- For information on manufacture go to Manufacture a medicine.
More information
Latest alerts
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Shortage resolved
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Pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk has advised us that a new brand of semaglutide approved for chronic weight management, Wegovy, will be available in Australia from early August 2024.
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Medicine shortage alert
Latest articles
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Product Information safety updates - August 2024
Information for health professionals about medicines with safety related updates to their product information. -
TGA warns advertising prescription-only weight-loss medicine is prohibited
The TGA reminds businesses and media outlets that it is unlawful to publicly advertise prescription-only medicines, including prescription-only weight loss medicines. -
Azithromycin and rare risk of cardiovascular death
An updated warning about the risk of sudden cardiovascular death has been added to the Product Information and Consumer Medicine Information documents for azithromycin.
Latest publications
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Advisory Committee on Vaccines meeting statement for meeting 47, held on 31 January 2024.
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Advisory Committee on Vaccines meeting statement for meeting 48 held on 1 May 2024.
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Find out about the seasonal influenza vaccines available for the 2024 southern hemisphere season.
This webpage on the TGA website was printed on 12 Sep 2024. Printed content may be out of date. For up-to-date information, always refer to the digital version: https://www.tga.gov.au/products/medicines/prescription-medicines