The United States Pharmacopoeial Convention (USP) workshop scheduled to be held in Hyderabad from 26-28 May, is expected to focus on quality control and improving standards of medicines.

The 3 day workshop at USP’s campus in Hyderabad is expected to bring together national medicines control laboratory officials on improving aspects of medicines quality and highlight contemporary issues pertaining to quality aspects prevailing in Asia Pacific region and suggest ways and means for improving the quality of medicine standards.

According to organizers, the workshop, will enable members of the USP Global Health Impact Program’s Network of Official Medicines Control Laboratories (NOMCoL) Asia-Pacific chapter to learn new and practical analytical techniques, share best practices and discuss ways to sustainably strengthen the capacity of official medicines control laboratories in the region.

The workshop is expected to focus on best practices for establishing and maintaining international accreditation; comprehensive methods for analysing the quality of drug samples; novel strategies and tools for increased data transparency and information sharing with laboratories, regulatory authorities and other national and international agencies and techniques to increase laboratory performance and improve drug analyses.

Dr PV Appaji, Director General from Pharmaceuticals Export Promotions Council (Pharmexcil), PBN Prasad, Deputy Drug Controller General of India, Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), OS Sadhwani, Joint Commissioner, Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and HG Koshia, Commissioner, Gujarat FDA are expected to deliver speeches on quality management and various regulatory aspects concerning the industry.

“This annual workshop of USP will provide an apt platform for NOMCoL Asia-Pacific member countries to resolve shared challenges, report on national advances, and exchange data, insights and lessons learned. By facilitating active collaboration and information-sharing across nations and regions, USP aims to advance the sustainable development of official medicines control laboratories (OMCLs) that are capable of producing and sharing harmonised and internationally-recognised data, ensuring the quality of medicines, and combating the proliferation of falsified and substandard drugs,” informed organizers of the workshop.