Parallel import licences
A parallel import needs a licence in the destination market that refers back to the product authorised in the source market. MPA holds the parallel import licences and importers under the UK scheme and the European national schemes, so the state of parallel trade in a product can be seen before stock is committed.
What it holds
- Licences and importers under national parallel importation schemes.
- UK parallel import licences in full, with holders and the cross-reference to the originating authorisation.
- Licences under the European national schemes.
- The same product’s patents, SPCs, licences and prices alongside, if you subscribe to them.
- Markets
- The UK scheme and European national schemes.
Who uses it, and why
- Parallel traders and wholesalersTo see which licences exist for a product, who holds them and which source countries they cover, before committing to stock.
- Originators, brand and portfolio teamsTo see parallel flows into their markets early, and who is importing.
- Procurement and buyersTo find whether a parallel import is available as an alternative supply.
- Consultancies and advisersTo assess the status of, and opportunities in, parallel trade for a product or market.
Questions it answers
Which parallel import licences exist for this product, and who holds them?
Which source countries do the licences cover?
How many importers are already in the product?
Is the brand still protected in the destination, and for how long?
What is the price differential between source and destination?
Which products does an importer hold licences for?
How it is searched
Assessing a product
- 1Search by substance, product, importer or licence number.
- 2Read the licences for the product, with holders and the originating authorisation.
- 3If you also subscribe to patents and SPCs, check the protection in destination and source, to see how long the opportunity lasts and when a generic may arrive.
- 4If you also subscribe to prices, compare the published prices on the same price type.
Finding opportunities
- 1Work through a whole list of products in one go to see which have parallel import licences, and how many.
- 2Search by importer to see a competitor’s licensed range.
- 3Add prices to see where a differential is worth taking after margins.
- 4Add the patent position to see how long each window lasts.
Expert support, included
Whether an import works in practice turns on more than the licence: repackaging and trade-mark rules, export restrictions and the market rules that change each year. We explain what they mean for your product, as part of every subscription.
What to read first
All resources- Case notesRepackaging and rebranding parallel importsA parallel importer may repackage only as far as is objectively necessary to sell in the destination market. Relabelling with a new anti-tampering seal is the default; putting the medicine in a new box is allowed only where relabelled packs would meet strong resistance from a significant part of the market. A generic may be rebranded to the originator's name only where the two products are identical and the rebranding is objectively necessary.
- Regulatory changesThe UK keeps 'UK+' exhaustionIn May 2025 the UK government made permanent the exhaustion regime it had run since Brexit: goods first sold in the UK or the European Economic Area with the rights holder's consent can be parallel imported into the UK, while goods first sold in the UK cannot be parallel exported into the EEA without consent. What that settles for parallel importers, what it leaves to the trade-mark cases, and why Northern Ireland made a national regime impossible.
- Regulatory changesThe Windsor Framework for parallel importersSince 1 January 2025 every UK parallel import licence covers Northern Ireland as well as Great Britain, every pack placed on the UK market carries 'UK Only', and the EU's serialisation and anti-tamper verification no longer applies to parallel-imported packs, which the EEA supplier must decommission before export. What changed, what an importer must do, and what it means for sourcing and for Northern Ireland.
- Regulatory changesThe UK's parallel-export and hoarding listWholesalers may not parallel-export or hoard a medicine on the Department of Health and Social Care's restricted list. In 2026 the list gained aspirin, rivastigmine, dinoprostone, cyclophosphamide, ramipril, raltitrexed, levothyroxine tablets, pentostatin, topotecan, cytarabine and mesna, and lost glucagon and terbutaline. How the list works, what is on it, and what an exporter must check before every shipment. Updated as the list moves.
- Regulatory changes'Launch or lose protection' and the parallel-trade safeguards in the EU pharmaceutical packageA Member State will be able to require a company to file for pricing and reimbursement within a year of authorisation; if the product is not launched and supplied there within three years of the request, regulatory market protection lapses in that country only and generics can file two years early. Alongside it, Member States gain the power to require parallel traders to notify the source country and to restrict exports on public-health grounds. The proposal to let Member States force reboxing of parallel imports was dropped. What the mechanism does, and what it means for country-by-country entry.
- Case notesRepackaging parallel imports after the 2022 rulesIn Denmark, reboxing is back to relabel-first. The Maritime and Commercial High Court held on 6 February 2026, in ten joined cases, that a replacement anti-tampering device need only be equally effective, not identical; that visible traces of opening do not make a new carton objectively necessary; that the medicines agency's guidance cannot widen what trade-mark law allows; and that an importer is not entitled to copy every pack size in the import market. The Brussels Court of Appeal held in June 2024 that rebranding a generic to the originator's name on import was not objectively necessary and infringed.
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