The much-awaited Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission should be in place anytime now with the Ministry of Health finalizing the formal structure and responsibilities of the Commission recently. The composition and Memorandum of Understanding of the Commission would now need the minister's nod before it can be made official, sources said. The Central India Pharmacopoeia Laboratory, Ghaziabad, the designated national facility meant for the development of IP standards would be the focal point of the new commission, it is learnt.

According to health ministry officials, the delay in the formation of the commission was warranted due to the change of guard at the centre. They informed that the files are now for the final scrutiny before the minister and are expected to be cleared any time now. The formation of Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission was one of the major projects that formed part of the World Bank assisted Capacity Building Programme for Food and Drugs sector. The government had also earmarked Rs 13 crore for the setting up of the commission some time back. According to the officials, the delay in the formation of the commission was the only reason for the continued renewal of the IP Committee. The new system will be of permanent nature and would have a chief executive officer as the administrative head.

The ongoing capacity building programme will result in the upgradation of drug testing facilities in all states of the country. It is expected that the CIPL, which is spending much of its energy in testing samples due to the absence of proper testing facilities at the state level, would be allowed to carry out its core activity soon. The mandate of CIPL is to come out with IP standards for drugs.

The birth of the commission will also empower CIPL to develop reference standards for the country. With the world class facilities for reference standards that would come up in the laboratory, testing, validation of protocols etc will all be undertaken from here. According to experts, India has great potential in developing reference standards as per international protocols. "Today reference standards as per international systems are costing somewhere between US$ 25,000 to 50,000. If India can produce the same, the cost would be just one tenth. The commission can even sell it in developed markets," they feel.