The Guideline on Stability Studies for pharmaceutical products prepared by the expert group formed by the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA) has been submitted to the Union Ministry of Health. The Guideline, which was handed over to the Central Drug Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) at the IDMA Pharmaceutical Analysts Convention (PAC) 2002, is the first such guideline for the stability test of pharmaceutical products prepared in the country.

The IDMA PAC 2002, commenced on October 4, 2002 in Mumbai, has also released the PAC 2001 Souvenier at the occasion. Following the introductory remarks by J L Sipahimalani, convenor, PAC 2002, the Best pharmaceutical analysts Awards were distributed, in which, Dr Arnold Beckett was awarded for the International Pharmaceutical Innovation. While the Eminent Pharmaceutical Analyst Award was presented to Dr SS Handa, Dr Vinay Nayak and Dr Saranjit Singh were honored with the Outstanding Pharma Analyst Awards.

The following scientific sessions at the PAC 2002, Dr Beckett delivered the key note address on the topic bio-availability/bioequivalance and dissolution, Dr Sanjay Bhanushali of Dr Reddy's Labs, Dr PS Jain of Perkin Elmer, Dr TG Chandrashekhar of Ranabxy, Dr Prasant Dikshit of Medlar Labs, Dr VB Malkar of Wockhardt, Dr KN Ganesh from NCL, Pune, Dr Gopakumar Nair, Dr SS Handa, former director, RRL, Jammu, were the other speakers in the first and second day sessions.

Ajit Singh, chairman, Associate Capsules Group was the chief guest. Delivering the welcome address, NH Israni applauded the important role of pharma analysts in the growth of the industry. Dr VG Vinayak presented the vote of thanks and the day 2 sessions on October 5, concluded with a panel discussion on Failure Investigation -Case Studies.