In late October 2003, Singapore’s Ministry of Health announced the drafting of a new bill that would regulate research and collection of human stem cells and tissue. The draft law called the Regulation of Biomedical Research Bill has been placed on the... Read More
Malaysia’s Health Ministry is currently formulating a new legislation which will ban door-to-door direct sales of medicines. Consideration for the new law emerged out of the recent deaths of two siblings from the state of Johor after consuming illegally produced herbal tonics... Read More
On September 25, 2003, the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies (WFCMS) was founded in Beijing, China to promote traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) worldwide. The organization will establish a means by which TCMs can be monitored internationally in order to ensure high... Read More
Japanese drug makers are looking into the future and investing in drug development based on the human genome. Major Japanese pharmaceutical manufacturers are now looking for links between drugs and genetics since the effective completion of the human genome map. Drug makers... Read More
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MECSST) in Japan jointly unveiled their “Three-Year National Drug Clinical Trial Action Plan” on April 30, 2003. The plan, which will run from 2003... Read More
Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority (HSA) and China’s State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) formalizing their agreement to further strengthen cooperation between the two government agencies. Both agencies are responsible for regulating drugs and health-related products... Read More
The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Consultative Committee for Standards and Quality (ACCSQ) was formed in 1992 by the ASEAN Economic Ministers. The purpose of the committee is to eliminate technical barriers to trade and facilitate the objectives of the ASEAN... Read More
Drug-eluting stents (DES) are designed for the controlled release of drugs into surrounding tissue. These types of stents are particularly useful in preventing the re-narrowing of arterial walls, or restonosis, after cardiovascular procedures. This technology was recently introduced into the Indian medical... Read More
As part of the extensive Pharmaceutical Affairs Law (PAL) revisions in Japan, the Japanese government has instituted changes to their current regulations in order to consolidate safety measures for biological products. The regulatory changes for biological products were introduced in July 2003.... Read More
Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has been developing an electronic licensing system to support the regulatory functions of the Centre for Pharmaceutical Administration (CPA) since 2001. The HSA implemented the first part of its electronic system in April 15, 2003 with the... Read More