OBJECTIVES::  The National Committee for Health Technology Incorporation (CONITEC) was established in 2011 as an advisory body of the Ministry of Health (MoH) in decisions related to incorporation, exclusion or changes in use of medicines, products and procedures in the Brazilian Healthcare System (SUS). Changes that have taken place are still very recent, and its potential impacts have not been sufficiently studied. This study investigated the decision process and the profiles of demands and recommendations for incorporation of new medicines into SUS approved by CONITEC from January/2012 to June/2016. METHODS::  All submissions and recommendations were assessed from data and reports available on the Committee´s website. Demands were classified by type of submission and technology. Applicants were categorized as "internal" (from MoH´s departments, Anvisa, state and municipal health authorities), and "external". Drugs with favorable recommendation of incorporation were categorized by ATC classification, clinical indication´s ICD-10 code and presence of active registry in Anvisa. Justifications provided in reports of final recommendations, and identified as motivating CONITEC´s decision for incorporation, were also examined. RESULTS::