With an aim to ensure effective way to encourage quality of medicines in the country, the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) after a gap of five years is going to have an interactive session with government analysts from state and central drug testing laboratories in Mumbai.

The two day interactive session in collaboration with IPC, WHO and CDSCO will be held from May 26 to 27. It will focus on understanding the challenges and issues faced by the drug analyst and how to meet their demands.

According to Dr G N Singh, secretary cum scientific director of IPC, “The drug testing laboratories play a vital role in ensuring quality of medicines in the country since they have to analyse drug formulations in different forms like tablets, capsules, syrups, suspensions, injections etc. They perform a very challenging job and are entrusted with high responsibility, thus it is essential to understand their issues and challenges and help them overcome it. Our focus is not only to ensure the availability of medicines of high quality across the country but also to look over effective implementation of IP standards, understanding the issues faced by the industry and trying to find possible solution for it.”

He informed that among the many topics that would be tabled for meeting, special focus would be given on getting updates on GLP compliance and its progress. Once they get the information on the problems faced by them it will be referred to the anomaly addressing committee of IPC in Ghaziabad who are responsible to address any anomalies and issues in the Drugs & Cosmetics Act with reference to the IP 2010.

This meeting is the third in the series of workshop that the IPC is organising in collaboration with WHO. The first being held in  Ghaziabad followed by a two day workshop in Chandigarh. Dr Singh informed that after the Mumbai meet there will be a similar workshop in Jammu & Kashmir where specific emphasis will be given to the issues faced by the industry in J&K state.