How much does it cost to develop a supplement in Australia?

Where the money goes

Cost	What it covers	What sets it
Development: the Design phase	The brief workshop, the formulation, its specification and a quote for making it	A fixed fee for a defined outcome
Development: the Build phase	The R&D sample, the product specification, the evidence, the TGA listing and the label	Fixed fees for each stage
The TGA's fees	Listing the medicine, then the annual charge, plus any variation or new ingredient	The TGA's schedule, set each financial year
The first production run	Manufacturing, release testing and delivery to your warehouse or 3PL	A per-unit price on a formal quote, at least 3,000 packs
Packaging	The bottle, tub, pouch or sachet, the label and the carton	The format, and whether the pack is standard or bespoke
After launch	The annual TGA charge, the stability program and reorders	The shelf life on the label and how the product sells

The development work comes first. In our process it runs in two phases: Design, about 8 to 10 weeks, which ends with a formula, its specification and a quote you can approve; and Build, about 20 to 24 weeks, which takes the product through the sample, the evidence, the listing and the label to 12 to 14 weeks in manufacture. See the Launch Engine for the steps, and formulation for what the design stage delivers.

The TGA's fees

Every listed medicine pays two: the listing application, $1,063 in 2026–27, paid within 14 days of submitting, and then the annual charge, $1,566 for each financial year once the product has had turnover. A listing that has never had turnover is exempt from the annual charge until sales start, as long as the sponsor declares each July that it had none in the year before; once the product has sold, the charge applies every year, even in a later year with no sales.

Two more apply only in particular cases: a new ingredient that isn't yet in the TGA's Permissible Ingredients Determination, which costs $19,826 to $33,696 in TGA fees for its application and evaluation, and a GMP clearance for a factory overseas, $818 per manufacturer, site and sponsor. The full schedule, with variations and new indications, and the steps around each fee are in our TGA approval guide.

What our work costs

Each stage is a fixed fee for a defined outcome, paid before the stage begins. Manufacturing is priced per unit on a formal quote: half with your purchase order, half before dispatch. We take you through the investment on the strategy call, for your product.

You can stop at the end of the Design phase with no obligation to have us manage the manufacture, and the formulation is yours to take anywhere. If you go into production with us, the agreement covers your first three production orders.

The minimum order

The minimum is 3,000 finished retail packs per batch, made in one run, whatever the format, for TGA-listed medicines and foods alike. So the first run's manufacturing cost is the unit price on the quote multiplied by at least 3,000.

Packaging has minimums of its own. Each pack format has a minimum from the packaging supplier, and single-serve sachets typically need around 150,000 sachets, so a tub or pouch is usually the better format to launch with. Splitting one batch across two formats is sometimes possible, and we look at it for each product.

Design to the price: the cost of goods

The formula is built to the price the product has to sell at, not costed after it. As a rule of thumb, divide the retail price by four or five to get the target cost of goods, packaging included. At a retail price of $60, for example, that is $12 to $15 a unit.

At that level, direct-to-consumer brands typically keep about 80% gross margin, and brands selling through pharmacies and health food stores about 60%. The quote confirms the cost of goods before you order, so the margin is known before anything is made.

What adds to the cost

• Bespoke packaging. A custom pack adds about three months. Standard bottles, pouches and tubs are faster, and we can use your own pack if you have one. See packaging.
• A format with high minimums. Single-serve sachets typically need around 150,000 sachets, and effervescent tablets need very large batches. More in formats.
• Another round of changes. A second round on the formula or the sample adds time to the stage it happens in.
• A new ingredient. One that isn't yet permitted needs the TGA's own evaluation first: $19,826 to $33,696 in TGA fees, and 40 working days for a preliminary assessment, then 70 to 180 working days for the evaluation. See new ingredients and how long it takes.
• A longer shelf life. 24 months is standard for a listed medicine; 36 months is possible with the right stability program, which runs for the length of the shelf life on the label. See stability testing.
• A factory overseas. A listed medicine made overseas needs a TGA GMP clearance for the site, applied for by the Australian sponsor; the processing fee is $818, and compliance verification or a TGA inspection can add to it. See GMP clearance.

Foods and cosmetics

A product on the food pathway pays no TGA listing fee or annual charge, because it isn't entered on the ARTG: it must comply with the Food Standards Code instead, and give up therapeutic claims. See supplements as foods.

A cosmetic needs no TGA entry either. The business that imports cosmetics or their ingredients, or makes the chemicals in them, registers with AICIS for each year it does: $85 to $3,585 for the 2026–27 registration year, depending on the value of chemicals introduced the year before. See AICIS registration.

Which pathway a product takes depends mostly on how it is presented, starting with its claims, and it changes the costs above. See medicine, food or cosmetic?

After launch

The annual TGA charge continues each financial year, the stability program keeps running for the shelf life on the label, and every TGA-listed batch is third-party tested before release. We manage reorders and update the listing and the label when the product changes (reformulating a supplement). Long partnerships tend to be ranges: BWellness has had five production batches since 2021 and nine products developed with us. More in extending a supplement range.