The Union health ministry has constituted the new Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB). Director General of Health Services (DGHS) will be the ex-officio chairman of this statutory body which is constituted by the ministry under section 5 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

The newly constituted DTAB will have its first introductory meeting on June 23. There are 18 members in the newly constituted DTAB, which is the highest decision-making body under the Union health ministry on technical matters. The term of the DTAB is for three years.

Other members of the 18-member DTAB are: Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) Dr Surinder Singh; Director of Central Drug Laboratory (Kolkatta) Dr P K Guha; Director of Central Research Institute (CRI), Kasauli; Director of Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Bareilly; president of Medical Council of India (MCI); president of Pharmacy Council of India (PCI); and Director of Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow.

There are two members in the DTAB who are nominated by the DCGI. They are Karnataka drug controller Dr Jagashetty and Jammu & Kashmir drug controller Satish Gupta. K Chinnaswamy is the other member of the Board who was nominated by the PCI. The MCI has named Dr Dhorubajyat Bora  as its nominee in the Board. Dr BPS Reddy, CMD of Hetero Drugs, is the nominee of the pharma companies.

Other members of the 18-member Board include: Dr FD Seth, advisor to Clinical Trial Registry of India (CTRI); Dr Dharam Prakash, nominee of India Medical Association (IMA); Dr C Gopalakrishna Murthy of Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA); and two govt analysts—J K Raj Vaidya of Drug Testing Laboratory, Madhya Pradesh and Yatendra Raj Mehta of drug testing laboratory, Rajasthan.